i 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT  OF 
FREDERIC  THOMAS  BLANCHARD 


PICTURESQUE 

SCOTTISH  SCENERY 


FROM 


ORIGINAL  DRAWINGS  BY  T.  L  KOWBOTHAM 

MEMBER   OF   THE  SOCIETY   OF   PAINTERS   IN   WATER-COLORS 


WITH 


iral,  anb  grscriptibe  flotcs 


COMPILED    BY 

THE    REV.  W.  J.  LOFTIE,  B.A.,  F.S.A. 


AUTHOR   OF   "A   CENTURY   OF   BIBLES,"   "THE    LATIN    YEAR,"   ETC.,    ETC. 


gorfe: 

SCRIBNER,    WELFORD,    &    ARMSTRONG,    BROADWAY 

LONDON:     MARCUS     WARD     &     CO. 
1875 


DA 


PAGE 

LlNLITHGOW,                   .                  .                  .                                    .                  .                  .  9 

LOCH  LEVEN,     .            .            .            .            .            .            .  .26 

DOUNE  CASTLE,        .            .                         .            .            .  44 

LOCH  KATRINE,              .            .            .            .            .            .  .57 

KILCHURN  CASTLE,   .......  72 

BEN  NEVIS,        ...  .91 


CHROMOGRAPHS. 


LINLITHGOW  PALACE,  ....  Frontispiece. 

LOCHLEVEN  CASTLE,        .             .             .             .                          .  .27 

DOUNE  CASTLE — STIRLING  IN  THE  DISTANCE,            .             .             .  45 

LOCH  KATRINE,              .             .             .             .             .             .  .56 

KILCHURN  CASTLE,  LOCH  AWE,        .....  73 

Do.                 Do.              (WOODCUT — PERFECT  CALM),     .  .     78 

BEN  NEVIS,  FROM  BANNAVIE,            .....  90 


1001276 


HE  hereditary  ill-fortune  which  pursued  all  the 
Scottish  kings  of  the  House  of  Stuart,  seems 
to  have  doubled  its  fury  when  the  crown  fell  to 
a  woman.  Mary,  Queen  of  Scotland — or,  as  she 
is  usually  called,  Queen  of  Scots — was  unfortunate 
in  all  the  chief  events  of  her  life.  Her  birth  was 
looked  upon  as  a  calamity  by  her  parents  and  her 
people  ;  and,  as  it  took  place  in  the  old  palace  of 
Linlithgow,  the  name  has  become  closely  connected  in  our 
minds  with  hers,  and  very  interesting  to  all  who  sympathise  in 
sufferings  which,  however  well  they  may  have  been  deserved, 
were  undoubtedly  of  the  most  severe  character,  and  perhaps  quite 
sufficient  to  satisfy  the  sternest  judges  of  her  conduct. 

It  was  on  Friday,  the  8th  December,  1542.  Her  father,  who 
lay  upon  his  death-bed  at  Falkland,  cried  out  bitterly  when  he 
heard  the  news,  and  prophesied  the  extinction  of  his  race.  The 
crown  of  Scotland  came,  he  said,  with  a  woman  into  his  family, 
and  it  would  go  with  one.  His  words  were  true  so  far  only  as  they 
related  to  his  own  immediate  branch  of  the  Stuarts.  James  the 


10  Linlithgow. 

First  of  England  and  Sixth  of  Scotland,  who  was  the  son  of  Mary 
by  her  second  husband,  Henry  Stuart,  Lord  Darnley,  carried  on 
the  old  name,  and  was  the  ancestor  of  three  kings  and  two  more 
queens  before  the  kingdoms  they  had  so  persistently  misgoverned 
could  bear  with  their  tyranny  any  longer.  The  House  of  Hanover 
is  descended  from  Queen  Mary,  but  there  have  been  several  female 
links  in  the  line  of  succession,  and  the  male  line  of  the  House  of 
Stuart  was  itself  extinguished  at  the  death  of  Henry,  called  the 
Cardinal  of  York,  in  1808. 

Six  days  after  the  birth  of  his  daughter,  on  Thursday,  the  14th 
of  December,  James  the  Fifth  breathed  his  last,  in  disgrace  with  his 
subjects  for  the  humiliating  defeat  of  Sol  way  Moss — where  he  had 
been  beaten  by  the  soldiers  of  his  uncle,  Henry  VIII.  of  England — 
and  leaving  his  kingdom  in  confusion  to  be  governed  by  a  regent 
during  her  long  minority.  The  first  six  years  of  the  youthful 
queen's  life  were  passed  in  Scotland,  chiefly  at  Linlithgow  and 
Stirling;  but  in  1548  she  was  sent  to  the  court  of  France,  where 
she  married  the  Dauphin,  afterwards  Francis  II.,  and,  as  his  widow, 
returned  to  Scotland  in  1561 ;  and  though  very  few  of  the  chief 
events  of  her  troubled  reign  took  place  at  Linlithgow,  she  occasion- 
ally resided  there  until  her  unfortunate  marriage  with  Bothwell, 
and  the  flight  into  England  to  which  it  led. 

It  was  in 

"Old  Linlithgow's  crowded  town" 

that  the  Eegent  Murray,  the  half-brother  of  Queen  Mary,  was 
murdered  by  Hamilton  of  Bothwell-haugh  in  1570.  The  story,  in 
its  legendary  form,  has  been  told  by  Scott  in  his  wild  ballad  of 
"  Cadzow  Castle,"  but  perhaps  the  following  careful  narrative  from 


Linlithgow.  11 

the  "  Life  of  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots/'  by  M.  Mignet,  may  be  accep- 
table as  an  impartial  account  of  the  deed.  M.  Mignet  is  singularly 
free  from  prejudice  in  his  history,  and  may  be  very  much  depended 
on  for  truthfulness. 

"  James  Hamilton  of  Bothwell-haugh  had  sworn  a  deadly 
hatred  to  the  Eegent.  Taken  prisoner  at  the  battle  of  Langside, 
he  had  recovered  his  liberty  by  the  arrangement  made  at  Glasgow 
on  the  13th  of  March,  1569,  by  the  Regent  and  the  Duke  of 
Chatelherault.  But  he  had  been  stripped  of  all  his  property. 
He  resolved  to  slay  the  Regent,  to  whom  he 
attributed  the  desolation  of  his  household.  Several  times  he  at- 
tempted to  effect  his  purpose,  but  without  success ;  his  hatred, 
encouraged  by  the  Hamiltons,  eagerly  sought  an  opportunity  for 
punishing  the  author  of  his  ruin,  and  laying  low  the  oppressor  of 
his  party.  This  opportunity  ere  long  presented  itself. 

"  The  Regent  was  on  his  way  from  Stirling  to  Edinburgh,  and 
intended  to  pass  through  Linlithgow.  In  the  High  Street  of  this 
last-named  town,  the  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews,  uncle  of  Both- 
well-haugh, possessed  a  house,  in  front  of  which  Murray  and  his 
cavalcade  would  necessarily  pass.  This  house  was  placed  at  the 
disposal  of  Bothwell-haugh,  who  made  every  preparation  for  the 
unfailing  performance  of  the  act  of  vengeance  which  he  had  con- 
cocted with  the  Hamiltons.  He  took  his  station  in  a  small  room 
or  wooden  gallery,  which  commanded  a  full  view  of  the  street.  To 
prevent  his  heavy  footsteps  being  heard,  for  he  was  booted  and 
spurred,  he  placed  a  feather-bed  on  the  floor ;  to  secure  against  any 
chance  observation  of  his  shadow,  which,  had  the  sun  broke  out, 
might  have  caught  the  eye,  he  hung  up  a  black  cloth  on  the  oppo- 


12  Linlithgow. 

site  wall ;  and  having  barricaded  the  door  in  front,  he  had  a  swift 
horse  ready  saddled  in  the  stable  at  the  back.  Even  here  his  pre- 
parations did  not  stop ;  for  observing  that  the  gate  in  the  wall 
which  enclosed  the  garden  was  too  low  to  admit  a  man  on  horse- 
back, he  removed  the  lintel-stone,  and,  returning  to  his  chamber, 
cut,  in  the  wooden  panel  immediately  below  the  lattice  window 
where  he  watched,  a  hole  just  sufficient  to  admit  the  barrel  of 
his  caliver.  Having  taken  these  precautions,  he  loaded  the  piece 
with  four  bullets,  and  calmly  awaited  his  victim. 

"  Murray  had  spent  the  night  in  a  house  in  the  neighbourhood. 
Rumours  had  reached  him  of  the  danger  by  which  he  was  threatened. 
One  of  his  friends'  had  even  persuaded  him  to  avoid  the  High 
Street,  and  pass  round  by  the  back  of  the  town.  But  the  crowd, 
pressing  round  him,  rendered  it  impossible  for  him  to  do  so ;  and 
he  rode  onwards  through  Linlithgow,  with  calm  courage,  amidst 
the  acclamations  of  the  populace.  He  proceeded  at  a  slow  pace 
along  the  High  Street  till  he  reached  the  Archbishop's  house.  He 
was  thus  exposed  to  the  fire  of  the  assassin,  who,  taking  deliberate 
aim,  discharged  his  caliver.  The  Regent,  shot  right  through  the 
lower  part  of  his  body,  fell  mortally  wounded.  At  this  sight, 
the  crowd  rushed  towards  the  house  from  whence  the  shot  had 
been  fired.  But  while  they  were  endeavouring  to  break  down 
the  door,  Bothwell-haugh,  escaping  at  the  back,  had  mounted 
his  horse,  and  fled  at  full  speed  in  the  direction  of  Hamilton 
Castle." 

It  is  a  fact,  as  the  apologists  of  Mary  must  regret  to  remember, 
that  she  was  so  pleased  with  this  atrocious  murder  that  slie  con- 
ferred a  pension  on  the  murderer.  Hamilton  eventually  escaped  to 


Linlithgow.  13 

France,  where  he  lived  for  many  years.  During  the  contest 
between  the  Huguenots  and  the  court  party  of  Catherine  de  Medici, 
the  mother  of  Charles  IX.,  Bothwell-haugh  was  applied  to  as  a 
desperado  ready  for  any  crime,  it  being  hoped  he  would  give  his 
help  to  a  plan  for  the  murder  of  Coligny ;  but  he  considered  the 
proposal  an  insult.  He  had  slain  a  man  in  Scotland,  he  said,  from 
whom  he  had  suffered  a  mortal  injury ;  but  the  world  could  not 
tempt  him  to  conspire  against  one  who  had  in  no  way  harmed  him. 
This  story,  which  Scott  repeats,  is  worthy  of  notice  as  a  typical 
example  of  the  strict  ideas  of  honour  cherished  among  people  who 
would  hesitate  at  no  crime  if  personal  and  revengeful  feelings  were 
concerned.  Unfortunately  for  the  world,  such  false  ideas  of  honour 
are  by  no  means  extinct. 

The  leaders  of  all  parties  in  Scotland  seem  to  have  been  relieved 
by  the  death  of  Murray.  He  had  kept  a  heavy  hand  upon  the 
lawlessness  of  the  country.  The  border  forays  were  quickly  re- 
sumed ;  while,  within  the  kingdom,  successive  attempts  were  made 
for  the  supreme  power  by  men  whose  bloodthirsty  violence  disgraced 
every  faction  alternately.  Even  the  village  children,  we  are  told, 
sided  with  Mary  or  her  son,  and  fought  as  Queen's  men  or  King's 
men  with  sticks  and  stones,  and  even  with  more  deadly  weapons. 
But  we  must  return  to  the  history  of  Linlithgow. 

In  our  endeavour  to  detail  the  more  interesting  events  of  which 
it  was  the  scene,  we  have  omitted  to  notice  some  memorable  pas- 
sages of  earlier  date.  On  the  site  afterwards  covered  by  the  palace 
stood  a  fort  occupied  by  King  Edward  the  First  of  England  during 
his  invasion  of  Scotland.  It  must  have  been  a  mere  embankment 
with  out-buildings,  for  we  are  told  that  the  king,  sleeping  on  the 


14  Linlithgow. 

ground  and  in  the  open  air  within  the  fort,  was  trodden  upon  by 
his  horse,  and  much  injured. 

James  the  Fourth  of  Scotland,  who  was  slain  at  Flodden  by  the 
army  of  his  brother-in-law,  Henry  the  Eighth,  resided  much  at  Lin- 
lithgow,  and  added  to  the  building.  In  Marmion  (Canto  Fourth, 
xv.-xvii.),  Sir  Walter  Scott  thus  narrates  a  legend  of  this  unfor- 
tunate king : — 

"  Of  all  the  palaces  so  fair, 

Built  for  the  royal  dwelling, 
In  Scotland,  far  beyond  compare 

Linlithgow  is  excelling ; 
And  in  its  park,  in  jovial  June, 
How  sweet  the  merry  linnet's  tune 
How  blithe  the  blackbird's  lay ! 
The  wild-buck  bells  from  ferny  brake, 
The  coot  dives  merry  on  the  lake, 
The  saddest  heart  might  pleasure  take 

To  see  all  nature  gay. 
But  June  is  to  our  Sovereign  dear 
The  heaviest  month  in  all  the  year : 
Too  well  his  cause  of  grief  you  know, — 
June  saw  his  father's  overthrow. 
Woe  to  the  traitors,  who  could  bring 
The  princely  boy  against  his  King ! 
Still  in  his  conscience  burns  the  sting. 
In  offices  as  strict  as  Lent 
"King  James's  June  is  ever  spent 

"  When  last  this  ruthful  month  was  come, 
And  in  Linlithgow's  holy  dome 

The  "King,  as  wont,  was  praying ; 
While  for  his  royal  father's  soul 
The  chaunters  sung,  the  bells  did  toll, 

The  Bishop  mass  was  saying — 


Linlithgow.  15 

For  now  the  year  brought  round  again 
The  day  the  luckless  king  was  slain — 

In  Katharine's  aisle  the  monarch  knelt, 

With  sackcloth-shirt,  and  iron  helt, 
And  eyes  with  sorrow  streaming ; 

Around  him,  in  their  stalls  of  state, 

The  Thistle's  Knight-Companions  sate, 
Their  banners  o'er  them  beaming. 

I  too  was  there,  and,  sooth  to  tell, 

Bedeafened  with  the  jangling  knell, 

Was  watching  where  the  sunbeams  fell, 
Through  the  stained  casement  gleaming ; 

But,  while  I  marked  what  next  befel, 

It  seemed  as  I  were  dreaming. 
Stepped  from  the  crowd  a  ghostly  wight, 
In  azure  gown,  with  cincture  white ; 
His  forehead  bald,  his  head  was  bare, 
Down  hung  at  length  his  yellow  hair. — 
Now,  mock  me  not,  when,  good  my  lord, 
I  pledge  to  you  my  knightly  word, 
That,  when  I  saw  his  placid  grace, 
His  simple  majesty  of  face, 
His  solemn  bearing,  and  his  pace 

So  stately  gliding  on, — 
Seemed  to  me  ne'er  did  limner  paint 
So  just  an  image  of  the  Saint, 
Who  propped  the  Virgin  in  her  faint, — 

The  loved  Apostle  John. 

"  He  stepped  before  the  Monarch's  chair, 
And  stood  with  rustic  plainness  there, 

And  little  reverence  made ; 
Nor  head,  nor  body,  bowed  nor  bent, 
But  on  the  desk  his  arm  he  leant, 

And  words  like  these  he  said, 


16  Linlithgaw. 

In  a  low  voice, — but  never  tone 

So  thrilled  through  vein,  and  nerve,  and  bone  : — 

'My  mother  sent  me  from  afar, 
Sir  King,  to  warn  thee  not  to  war, — 

Woe  waits  on  thine  array ; 
If  war  thou  wilt,  of  woman  fair, 
Her  witching  wiles  and  wanton  snare, 
James  Stuart,  doubly  warned,  beware  : 

God  keep  thee  as  He  may ! ' — 
The  wondering  Monarch  seemed  to  seek 

For  answer,  and  found  none  ; 
And  when  he  raised  his  head  to  speak, 

The  monitor  was  gone. 
The  Marshal  and  myself  had  cast 
To  stop  him  as  he  outward  past ; 
But,  lighter  than  the  whirlwind  blast, 

He  vanished  from  our  eyes, 
Like  sunbeam  on  the  billow  cast, 

That  glances  but,  and  dies." 

After  the  death  of  James  at  Flodden  many  such  stories  were 
commonly  reported,  as  were  others  that  the  King  had  escaped,  and 
would  one  day  return.  His  son,  the  father  of  Queen  Mary,  suc- 
ceeded him  as  James  the  Fifth  at  the  early  age  of  two  years. 

The  name  of  Linlithgow  is  linked  with  that  of  another  unfortu- 
nate monarch.  To  her  is  owing  much  of  the  picturesque  appear- 
ance of  one  of  the  loveliest  ruins  in  Germany.  Elizabeth,  Queen 
of  Bohemia,  daughter  of  James  the  First  of  England  and  Sixth  of 
Scotland,  passed  her  early  days  at  this  place,  and  perhaps  remem- 
bered her  Scottish  home  when  the  new  palace  on  the  banks  of  the 
Moselle  was  planned  and  built.  Many  travellers  have  remarked  on 
the  resemblance  which  undoubtedly  exists  between  the  courtyard 


Linlithgow.  17 

of  Heidelberg  and  that  of  Linlithgow.  But  much  of  this  similarity 
may  also  be  accounted  for  by  the  period  of  their  erection,  and  by 
the  beauty  of  the  situation  of  both.  The  earlier  building  contains 
many  marks  of  a  transitional  style  of  architecture,  being  of  that 
latest  form  of  Gothic  which  ran  by  insensible  degrees  into  the  semi- 
classical  type  which  we  call  Elizabethan.  Both,  too,  were  eventu- 
ally destroyed  by  fire,  though  Linlithgow  survived  until  1746, 
when  it  was  burnt  during  the  rebellion  of  the  Young  Pretender.  It 
did  not,  however,  owe  its  destruction  to  the  rebels.  After  the 
battle  of  Falkirk,  the  troops  of  General  Hawley,  who  had  been  de- 
feated by  Prince  Charles,  retreated  first  to  Linlithgow,  which  is 
only  distant  some  five  or  six  miles  from  the  moor  on  which  the 
fight  took  place ;  and  having  spent  the  night  there,  they  burnt  it 
lest  it  should  shelter  the  pursuing  enemy.  Sir  Walter  Scott  thus 
narrates  the  circumstances  of  the  battle  : — 

"The  Highland  army,  lying  before  Stirling,  were  regularly 
apprized  of  the  movements  of  the  enemy.  Upon  the  13th  of 
January,  Lord  George  Murray,  who  lay  at  Falkirk,  obtained  intel- 
ligence that  the  people  of  the  neighbouring  town  of  Linlithgow 
had  received  orders  from  Edinburgh  to  prepare  provisions  and 
forage  for  a  body  of  troops  who  were  instantly  to  advance  in  that 
direction.  Lord  George,  made  aware  of  Hawley 's  intention,  re- 
solved to  move  with  a  sufficient  force  and  disappoint  these  measures, 
by  destroying  or  carrying  off  the  provisions  which  should  be  col- 
lected in  obedience  to  the  requisition. 

"  The  Jacobite  general  marched  to  Linlithgow,  accordingly, 
with  the  three  MacDonald  regiments,  those  of  Appin  and  of  Cluny, 
and  the  horse  commanded  by  Elcho  and  Pitsligo.  Parties  of  the 


18  Linlithgow. 

cavalry  were  despatched  to  patrol  on  the  road  to  Edinburgh  for 
intelligence.  About  noon,  the  patrolling  party  sent  back  informa- 
tion that  they  perceived  a  small  body  of  dragoons,  being  the 
advance  of  General  Huske's  division,  which,  as  I  have  stated, 
marched  from  Edinburgh  that  morning.  Lord  George  sent  orders 
to  the  patrol  to  drive  the  dragoons  who  had  shown  themselves 
back  upon  the  main  body,  if  they  had  one,  and  not  to  retire  until 
they  saw  themselves  in  danger  of  being  overpowered.  In  the 
meantime,  he  drew  up  the  infantry  in  line  of  battle  in  front  of  the 
town  of  Linlithgow.  Lord  Elcho,  according  to  his  orders,  drove 
back  the  advanced  party  of  horse  upon  a  detachment  of  sixty 
dragoons,  and  then  forced  the  whole  to  retire  upon  a  village  in 
which  there  were  masses  both  of  horse  and  foot.  Having  thus 
reconnoitred  close  up  to  the  main  body  of  the  enemy,  Lord  Elcho 
sent  to  acquaint  Lord  George  Murray  what  force  he  had  in  his 
front,  so  far  as  he  could  discern,  and  received  orders  to  retreat, 
leaving  a  small  corps  of  observation.  It  was  not  Lord  George's 
purpose  to  engage  an  enemy  whose  strength,  obviously  consider- 
able, was  unknown  to  him ;  he  therefore  determined  to  remain  in 
Linlithgow  until  the  enemy  arrived  very  near  the  town,  and  then 
to  make  his  retreat  in  good  order.  This  object  he  accomplished 
accordingly ;  and,  on  his  repassing  the  bridge,  there  was  so  little 
distance  betwixt  the  advanced  guard  of  General  Huske's  division 
and  the  rear  guard  of  Lord  George  Murray's,  that  abusive  language 
was  exchanged  between  them,  though  without  any  actual  violence. 
Lord  George  continued  his  retreat  to  Falkirk,  where  he  halted  for 
that  night.  On  the  next  day,  he  again  retreated  to  the  villages  in 
the  vicinity  of  Bannockburn,  where  he  learned  that  General  Huske, 


Linlithgow.  19 

with  half  the  Government  army,  had  arrived  at  Falkirk,  and  that 
General  Hawley  had  also  arrived  there  on  the  16th,  with  the 
second  division  ;  that,  besides  his  regular  troops,  he  was  joined  by 
1000  Highlanders,  followers  of  the  Argyle  family,  and  that  they 
seemed  determined  upon  battle. 

"  Upon  the  15th  and  16th  of  January,  the  Chevalier,  leaving 
1000  or  1200  men  under  Gordon  of  Glenbucket,  to  protect  the 
trenches  and  continue  the  blockade  of  Stirling  Castle,  drew  up  his 
men  in  a  plain  about  a  mile  to  the  east  of  Bannockburn,  expecting 
an  attack. 

"  Hawley  at  length  caught  the  alarm.  He  suddenly  appeared 
in  front  of  the  camp,  and,  ordering  the  whole  line  to  advance, 
placed  himself  at  the  head  of  three  regiments  of  dragoons,  drew 
his  sword,  and  led  them  at  a  rapid  pace  up  the  hill  called  Falkirk 
moor,  trusting  by  a  rapid  movement  to  anticipate  the  Highlanders, 
who  were  pressing  on  towards  the  same  point  from  the  opposite 
side  of  the  eminence. 

"  When  Hawley  set  off  with  his  three  regiments  of  dragoons,  the 
infantry  of  the  King's  army  followed  in  line  of  battle,  having  six 
battalions  in  the  first  line,  and  the  same  number  in  the  second. 
Howard's  regiment  marched  in  the  rear,  and  formed  a  small  body 
of  reserve. 

"At  the  moment  that  the  Highlanders  were  pressing  up  Falkirk 
moor  on  the  one  side,  the  dragoons,  who  had  advanced  briskly,  had 
gained  the  eminence,  and  displayed  a  line  of  horse  occupying  about 
as  much  ground  as  one  half  of  the  first  line  of  the  Chevalier's 


20  Linlithgow. 

army.  The  Highlanders,  however,  were  in  high  spirits,  and  their 
natural  ardour  was  still  farther  increased  at  the  sight  of  the  enemy. 
They  kept  their  ranks,  and  advanced  at  a  prodigious  rate  towards 
the  ridge  occupied  by  Hawley's  three  regiments." 

Hawley's  men,  under  his  own  directions,  attacked  the  rebels. 
But  the  cavalry  and  most  of  the  infantry  received  a  decided  check, 
while  three  regiments  differently  commanded  were  able  to  hold 
their  ground,  and  many  of  the  Highlanders  fled,  imagining  the  day 
was  lost.  Scott  sums  up  the  results  in  the  following  passage  : — 

"  The  advantage,  upon  the  whole,  was  undeniably  with  Charles 
Edward ;  but  from  the  want  of  discipline  among  the  troops  he 
commanded,  and  the  extreme  severity  of  the  tempest,  it  became 
difficult  even  to  learn  the  extent  of  the  victory,  and  impossible  to 
follow  it  up.  The  Highlanders  were  in  great  disorder.  Almost  all 
the  second  line  were  mixed  and  in  confusion, — the  victorious  right 
had  no  idea,  from  the  darkness  of  the  weather,  what  had  befallen 
the  left, — nor  were  there  any  mounted  generals  or  aides-de-camp, 
who  might  have  discovered  with  certainty  what  was  the  position 
of  affairs.  In  the  meantime,  the  English  regiments  which  had 
been  routed  fled  down  the  hill  in  great  confusion,  both  cavalry  and 
infantry,  towards  the  camp  and  town  of  Falkirk."  Hawley 
"  caused  the  tents  to  be  set  on  fire,  and  withdrew  his  confused 
and  dismayed  followers  to  Linlithgow,  and  from  thence  the 
next  day  retreated  to  Edinburgh,  with  his  forces  in  a  pitiable 
state  of  disarray  and  perturbation.  The  Glasgow  regiment  of 
volunteers  fell  into  the  power  of  the  rebels  upon  this  occasion, 
and  were  treated  with  considerable  rigour;  for  the  Highlanders 
were  observed  to  be  uniformly  disposed  to  severity  against  those 


Linlithgow.  21 

voluntary  opponents,  who,  in  their  opinion,  were  not,  like  the 
regular  soldiers,  called  upon  by  duty  to  take  part  in  the  contention." 
Sir  Walter  thus  describes  the  burning  of  the  ancient  palace  : — 
"On  the  night  of  the  17th,  Hawley's  disordered  troops  were 
quartered  in  the  palace  of  Linlithgow,  and  began  to  make  such 
great  fires  on  the  hearths  as  to  endanger  the  safety  of  the  edifice.  A 
lady  of  the  Livingstone  family,  who  had  apartments  there,  remon- 
strated with  General  Hawley,  who  treated  her  fears  with  contempt. 
*  I  can  run  away  from  fire  as  fast  as  you  can,  General,'  answered 
the  high-spirited  dame,  and  with  this  sarcasm  took  horse  for 
Edinburgh.  Very  soon  after  her  departure  her  apprehensions  were 
realised ;  the  palace  of  Linlithgow  caught  fire,  and  was  burned  to 
the  ground.  The  ruins  alone  remain  to  show  its  former  splendour." 
On  the  whole,  then,  this  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  ruins  re- 
maining in  Scotland.  Its  proximity  to  Edinburgh  on  the  one  hand 
and  to  Stirling  on  the  other  brings  it  constantly  into  the  narrative 
of  events  which  took  place  at  one  town  or  the  other.  Although 
the  town  is  the  capital  of  a  county,  it  is  very  small,  and  does  not 
now  contain  more  than  four  thousand  inhabitants.  It  is,  however, 
full  of  curious  and  picturesque  buildings,  some  of  them  very  ancient, 
the  streets  being  winding  and  irregular,  and  abounding  in  those 
features  which  artists  prize  most  highly.  The  high  roofs,  the 
quaint  doorways  and  windows,  the  clustered  chimneys,  harmonise 
well  with  the  great  ruin  of  the  royal  palace.  There  is  much  to 
admire  in  the  old  tower  of  the  county  court-house,  although  the 
rest  of  the  building  is  modern  and  uninteresting.  The  church, 
which  was  founded  by  King  David  the  First,  has  been  described  as 
the  most  important  specimen  of  an  ancient  parochial  edifice  now 


22  Linlithgow. 

remaining  in  Scotland,  both  as  to  dimensions  and  also  as  to  architec- 
tural features.  The  chancel  alone,  which  is  octagonal  in  plan,  is 
used  now  for  Divine  service ;  but  the  whole  church  consists  of  a 
nave  with  aisles  and  a  transept,  and  is  large,  wide,  and  lofty.  The 
tower  formerly  supported  one  of  those  curious  spires  which  are  still 
to  be  seen  at  St.  Giles's  Cathedral  in  Edinburgh,  at  Newcastle-on- 
Tyne,  and  at  St.  Dunstan's  in  the  city  of  London.  The  south  side 
of  the  building  is  much  injured  in  effect  by  a  debased  Gothic  addi- 
tion of  the  17th  century,  which  blocks  up  one  of  the  windows. 
Mr.  Fergusson,  in  his  "History  of  Architecture,"  speaks  with 
praise  of  the  windows,  and  especially  notes  one  as  a  fine  specimen 
of  the  Scottish  flamboyant  style.  With  regard  to  the  beautiful 
west  doorway,  he  says  that  it  offers  a  pleasing  example  of  "the 
half-continental  manner  in  which  that  feature  was  usually  treated 
iii  Scotland."  The  window  above-mentioned,  and  several  other 
parts  of  the  church,  show  strong  signs  of  the  foreign  influence  to 
which  the  quaint  magnificence  of  Roslin  chapel  must  be  attributed. 
It  was  beneath  this  window,  which  is  in  the  chapel  of  St.  Catherine, 
at  the  extremity  of  the  southern  transept,  that  the  apparition 
already  mentioned  in  a  quotation  from  Marmion  took  place.  A 
piece  of  stone-carving,  which  represents  the  Betrayal  and  other 
scenes  from  the  Passion  of  our  Saviour,  should  be  noticed.  It 
formerly,  in  all  probability,  stood  above  the  high  altar,  but  is  now 
in  the  vestry -room. 

The  remains  of  the  palace  are  entered  from  the  town  by  a  fine 
castellated  gateway  built  by  King  James  the  Fourth.  The  church 
stands  near  the  palace,  within  the  enclosure.  The  gate  is  flanked 
by  octagonal  towers,  and  over  the  central  arch  are  the  ensigns  of 


Lmlithgow.  23 

the  four  great  orders  of  knighthood  to  which  the  king  belonged. 
For  St.  George  of  England — or,  as  it  has  been  called  since  the  time 
of  King  Edward  the  Sixth,  the  Order  of  the  Garter — is  the  shield 
with  three  lions,  which  King  James's  great-grandson  was  destined  to 
adopt  as  part  of  the  arms  of  his  double  dignity.  Beside  them  is 
the  Lion  of  Scotland,  within  the  double  tressure,  for  the  Order  of 
St.  Andrew,  which  was  afterwards  revived  by  his  degenerate  de- 
scendant, James  the  Second  of  England  and  Seventh  of  Scotland, 
in  1687,  and  finally  re-estd)lished  in  its  present  form  by  Queen 
Anne  in  1703.  The  third  shield  is  that  of  St.  Philip  of  Castile 
and  Leon,  a  Spanish  order  conferred  upon  King  James  by  the 
father  and  mother  of  Queen  Catharine  of  Arragon.  The  fourth  is 
that  of  a  French  order,  and  bears  the  three  fleurs-de-lis. 

There  are  now  no  remains  of  the  castle  or  palace  of  King  David 
the  First.  The  fort  of  which  we  have  spoken  in  connection  with 
Edward  the  First  of  England  was  demolished  in  1307,  and  all  that 
is  now  to  be  seen  dates  since  a  fire  which  destroyed  the  older  parts 
in  1424.  The  banqueting  hall,  which  was  the  largest  and  most 
important  apartment,  was  94  feet  long,  and  had  a  high  roof  sup- 
ported by  wooden  beams,  the  stone  brackets  from  which  they 
sprung  being  still  visible.  A  withdrawing-room,  called  the 
Audience  Chamber,  and  the  principal  guard-room  beneath  are  at 
one  end  of  the  hall.  A  fine  range  of  circular-headed  windows 
lighted  the  hall  in  which  meetings  of  the  Scottish  Parliament — 
generally  consisting  of  only  one  body,  where  lords  and  commons 
sat  together — were  often  held.  The  private  apartments  of  the 
Royal  family  were  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  quadrangle.  Some 
of  them  remain  entire,  including  the  bower  or  boudoir  of  Queen 


24  Linlithgow. 

Margaret,  the  neglected  wife  of  James  the  Fourth.  It  is  situated 
at  the  top  of  a  tower  staircase,  and  is  commemorated  in  the  lines 
of  Sir  Walter  Scott  (Marmion,  Canto  Firet,  xvn.)— 

"  Xorham  is  grim  and  grated  close, 
Henim'd  in  by  battlement  and  fosse, 

And  many  a  darksome  tower ; 
And  better  loves  my  lady  bright 
To  sit  in  liberty  and  light, 

In  fair  Queen  Margaret's  bower." 

In  the  fifth  canto  of  the  same  poem,  Sir  Walter  speaks  more 
distinctly  of  this  chamber.  After  telling  of  Lady  Heron,  and  of 
the  Queen  of  France,  at  whose  instigation  the  king  was  said  to 
have  undertaken  the  war  against  England  which  ended  so  dis- 
astrously for  himself  and  so  many  of  his  bravest  subjects,  he  goes 
on — • 

"  And  yet  the  sooth  to  tell, 
Nor  England's  fair,  nor  France's  queen, 
Were  worth  one  pearl-drop,  bright  and  sheen, 

From  Margaret's  eyes  that  fell ; — 
His  own  Queen  Margaret,  who,  in  Lithgow's  bower, 
All  lonely  sat,  and  wept  the  weary  hour. 
The  Queen  sits  lone  in  Lithgow  pile, 

And  weeps  the  weary  day. 
The  war  against  her  native  soil, — 
Her  monarch's  risk  in  battle  broil" 

This  Queen  it  was  who,  being  the  eldest  daughter  of  Henry  the 
Seventh  of  England  and  his  wife  Elizabeth,  the  eldest  daughter  of 
King  Edward  the  Fourth,  became  eventually,  though  not  till  many 
years  after  her  own  death,  the  link  which  united  the  English  and 
Scottish  crowns. 


Linlithgow.  25 

There  is  not  much  of  interest  in  the  other  chambers  of  Linlith- 
gow Palace,  with  one  exception.  This  is  the  room  in  which  Mary 
Queen  of  Scots  was  born;  the  rest  of  the  older  part  of  the  building 
consists  of  a  chapel  and  ante-chapel,  and  a  gallery  which  runs 
round  the  whole  of  the  upper  storey.  On  the  north  side  is  an 
addition  made  by  King  James  the  Sixth  when  he  resided  here 
before  his  accession  to  the  English  throne.  A  beautiful  fountain 
formerly  played  in  the  centre  of  the  court,  and  much  of  the  fine 
carving  with  which  it  was  adorned  may  still  be  traced.  Linlithgow 
was  famous  for  its  fountains,  according  to  the  jingling  lines, — 

"  Lithgow  for  wells, 
Glasgow  for  bells, 
Peebles  for  clash  and  lees, 
Falkirk  for  beans  and  peas." 

The  lake  flows  close  up  to  the  palace,  the  towers  being  pic- 
turesquely reflected  in  its  waters.  The  German  poet,  Uhland, 
must  have  thought  of  such  a  scene  when  he  wrote  his  affecting 
ballad,  "The  Castle  by  the  Sea."  Such  an  event  as  that  shadowed 
forth  in  his  lines  may  well  have  taken  place  here.  The  opening 
lines  especially  suggest  Linlithgow,  and  the  view  we  give  would 
serve  well  as  an  illustration  of  them  : — 

"  Hast  thou  seen  that  castle  olden 

That  is  seated  by  the  sea  1 
How  the  purple  clouds  and  golden 

Float  above  it  gloriously  1 
How  its  tones  are  ever  blending 

With  the  clouds  that  redly  glow ; 
And  again  are  oft  descending 

To  the  waves  that  roll  below." 


!L  0  £1 


HERE  are  two  Lochs  of  this  name  in  Scotland.  One  of 
them  is  an  inland  bay,  or  what  in  Norway  would  be 
called  a  "  fiord."  It  is  situated  in  Argyleshire,  and  is  a 
continuation  of  Loch  Linnhe,  the  famous  Pass  of  Glencoe  being 
upon  its  shores.  But  our  present  concern  is  with  the  lake  of  this 
name  in  Kinross,  which  has  become  famous  for  the  Castle,  on  an 
islet,  in  which  took  place  one  of  the  most  romantic  passages  in  all 
the  romantic  history  of  Queen  Mary.  Loch  Leven  is  only  a  few  miles 
west  of  the  shore  of  the  Firth  of  Forth,  with  which  it  communicates 
by  a  little  river,  running  into  the  sea  near  the  town  of  Leven.  The 
whole  lake  is  about  eleven  miles  in  circumference,  and  contains 
several  small  islands.  That  one  on  which  the  ruins  of  the  ancient 
castle  stand,  is  about  half-a-mile  from  the  western  shore,  and  not 
far  from  the  town  of  Kinross,  where  there  is  a  railway  station,  and 
it  is  thus  easily  visited  from  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow,  and  is  a  place 
of  great  interest  to  every  Scottish  traveller. 

The  so-called  "Castle"  only  consists  of  a  single  tower,  now 
fallen  into  complete  decay,  and  destitute  of  architectural  interest, 
though  two  vaulted  chambers  still  exist  to  attest  its  former  import- 
ance. It  may  be  worth  while  briefly  to  detail  the  story  of  Queen 
Mary's  imprisonment  within  its  walls  ;  and,  with  this  view,  we  may 


•.-/*-'        X" 

$£'  * 

""    ,  f*xi    i 


Loch  Lev  en.  29 


take  our  choice  of  the  story  as  it  is  in  M.  Mignet's  admirable  History, 
or  in  the  scarcely  less  veracious  pages  of  Sir  Walter  Scott's  immortal 
romance,  "  The  Abbot,"  where  the  tale  is  told  with  those  embellish- 
ments which  he  was  so  well  able  to  supply.  To  begin  with  the 
historian,  we  read  that,  in  1567,  the  marriage  of  Mary  with  Both- 
well,  whom  she  created  Duke  of  Orkney,  gave  such  offence  that  a 
powerful  league  was  formed  against  her  by  the  nobility,  among 
whom  the  Earls  of  Argyll,  Athol,  and  Morton,  with  Kirkaldy, 
Laird  of  Grange,  were  the  most  prominent.  The  Queen  fled  to 
Dunbar,  and,  accompanied  by  Both  well,  proceeded  on  the  15th  June 
to  Carberry  Hill,  six  miles  from  Edinburgh,  where  the  confederated 
lords,  with  their  adherents,  met  her.  After  a  parley  and  a  short 
contest,  the  royal  army  was  disbanded,  the  Queen  and  Bothwell 
being  left  with  only  sixty  gentlemen  and  a  band  of  hackbutters. 
At  Mary's  request,  Bothwell  rode  away  in  the  direction  of  Dunbar, 
having  first  bidden  her  farewell,  and  seen  her,  as  it  proved,  for  the 
last  time.  "From  this  moment,"  says  M.  Mignet,  "she  was  a 
captive  in  the  hands  of  the  confederate  lords,  who  conveyed  her  at 
once  to  Edinburgh."  After  a  few  days'  delay  they  determined  to 
commit  her  to  the  custody  of  Lord  Lyndsay,  Lord  Ruthven,  and 
William  Douglas  of  Loch  Leven.  By  virtue  of  their  arrangements, 
"the  unfortunate  Queen,  during  the  night  of  the  16th  June,  was 
taken  from  the  palace  of  her  ancestors,  mounted  on  a  sorry  hackney, 
and  conducted  to  Loch  Leven  Castle,  by  Lyndsay  and  Ruthven, 
men  of  savage  manners,  even  in  that  age."  Scott  gives  the  follow- 
ing description  of  Loch  Leven  in  "  The  Abbot "  :— 

"The  ancient  castle,  which  occupies  an  island  nearly  in  the 
centre  of  the  lake,  recalled  to  the  page  that  of  Avenel,  in  which  he 


30  Loch  Leven. 

had  been  nurtured.  But  the  lake  was  much  larger,  and  adorned 
with  several  islets  besides  that  on  which  the  fortress  was  situated  ; 
and,  instead  of  being  embosomed  in  hills  like  that  of  Avenel,  had 
upon  the  southern  side  only  a  splendid  mountainous  screen,  being 
the  descent  of  one  of  the  Lomond  hills,  and  on  the  other  was  sur- 
rounded by  the  extensive  and  fertile  plain  of  Kinross.  Roland 
Graeme  looked  with  some  degree  of  dismay  on  the  water-girdled 
fortress,  which  then,  as  now,  consisted  only  of  one  large  Donjon- 
keep,  surrounded  with  a  court-yard  with  two  round  flanking-towers 
at  the  angles,  which  contained  within  its  circuit  some  other  build- 
ings of  inferior  importance.  A  few  old  trees  clustered  together, 
near  the  castle,  gave  some  relief  to  the  air  of  desolate  seclusion ; 
but  yet  the  page,  while  he  gazed  upon  a  building  so  sequestered, 
could  not  but  feel  for  the  situation  of  a  captive  Princess  doomed  to 
dwell  there,  as  well  as  for  his  own.  I  must  have  been  born,  he 
thought,  under  the  star  that  presides  over  ladies  and  lakes  of  water, 
for  I  cannot  by  any  means  escape  from  the  service  of  the  one  or 
from  dwelling  in  the  other.  But  if  they  allow  me  not  the  fair 
freedom  of  my  sport  and  exercise,  they  shall  find  it  as  hard  to 
confine  a  wild-drake  as  a  youth  who  can  swim  like  one." 

The  mother  of  Douglas,  who  resided  at  Loch  Leven,  and 
whose  hard  character  fitted  her  particularly  for  the  post  of  gaoler, 
is  thus  described  in  the  same  work : — 

"  The  station  which  the  Lady  of  Lochleven  now  held  as  the 
wife  of  a  man  of  high  rank  and  interest,  and  the  mother  of  a  lawful 
family,  did  not  prevent  her  nourishing  a  painful  sense  of  degrada- 
tion, even  while  she  was  proud  of  the  talents,  the  power,  and  the 
station  of  her  son,  now  prime  ruler  of  the  State,  but  still  a  pledge  of 


Loch  Lev  en.  31 


her  illicit  intercourse.  Had  James  done  to  her  (she  said  in  her 
secret  heart)  the  justice  he  owed  her,  she  had  seen  in  her  son,  as  a 
source  of  unmixed  delight  and  of  unchastened  pride,  the  lawful 
monarch  of  Scotland,  and  one  of  the  ablest  who  ever  swayed  the 
sceptre.  The  House  of  Mar,  not  inferior  in  antiquity  or  grandeur 
to  that  of  Drummond,  would  then  have  also  boasted  a  Queen 
amongst  its  daughters,  and  escaped  the  stain  attached  to  female 
frailty,  even  when  it  had  a  royal  lover  for  its  apology.  While  such 
feelings  preyed  on  a  bosom  naturally  proud  and  severe,  they  had  a 
corresponding  effect  on  her  countenance,  where,  with  the  remains 
of  great  beauty,  were  mingled  traits  indicative  of  inward  discontent 
and  peevish  melancholy.  It  perhaps  contributed  to  increase  this 
habitual  temperament,  that  the  Lady  Lochleven  had  adopted  un- 
commonly rigid  and  severe  views  of  religion,  imitating  in  her  ideas 
of  reformed  faith  the  very  worst  errors  of  the  Catholics,  in  limiting 
the  benefit  of  the  gospel  to  those  who  profess  their  own  specu- 
lative tenets." 

And  Scott's  description  of  the  royal  prisoner  is  so  graphic  that 
we  can  hardly  omit  it  here  : — 

"  Her  face,  her  form,  have  been  so  deeply  impressed  upon  the 
imagination,  that,  even  at  the  distance  of  nearly  three  centuries,  it 
is  unnecessary  to  remind  the  most  ignorant  and  uninformed  reader 
of  the  striking  traits  which  characterise  that  remarkable  counten- 
ance, which  seems  at  once  to  combine  our  ideas  of  the  majestic,  the 
pleasing,  and  the  brilliant,  leaving  us  to  doubt  whether  they  express 
most  happily  the  queen,  the  beauty,  or  the  accomplished  woman. 
Who  is  there,  at  the  very  mention  of  Mary  Stuart's  name,  that  has 
not  her  countenance  before  him,  familiar  as  that  of  the  mistress  of 


32  Loch  Leven. 

his  youth,  or  the  favourite  daughter  of  his  advanced  age  ?  I 
those  who  feel  themselves  compelled  to  believe  all  or  much  of  what 
her  enemies  laid  to  her  charge,  cannot  think  without  a  sigh  upon  a 
countenance  expressive  of  anything  rather  than  the  foul  crimes  with 
which  she  was  charged  when  living,  and  which  still  continue  to 
shade,  if  not  to  blacken  her  memory.  That  brow,  so  truly  open 
and  regal — those  eye-brows,  so  regularly  graceful,  which  yet  were 
saved  from  the  charge  of  regular  insipidity  by  the  beautiful  effect 
of  the  hazel  eyes  which  they  over-arched,  and  which  seem  to  utter 
a  thousand  histories — the  nose,  with  all  its  Grecian  precision  of 
outline — the  mouth,  so  well  proportioned,  so  sweetly  formed,  as  if 
designed  to  speak  nothing  but  what  was  delightful  to  hear — the 
dimpled  chin — the  stately  swanlike  neck,  form  a  countenance,  the 
like  of  which  we  know  not  to  have  existed  in  any  other  character 
moving  in  that  high  class  of  life,  where  the  actresses  as  well  as  the 
actors  command  general  and  undivided  attention." 

Here,  then,  Mary  remained  till  the  25th  July,  when  a  singular 
scene  took  place  within  the  castle.  Lyndsay  and  Melville  came 
from  Edinburgh  bearing  the  acts  which  were  to  deprive  her  of  her 
sovereignty.  Melville  saw  her  first,  and  explained  to  her  the  designs 
of  the  victorious  lords.  He  told  her  that,  on  her  refusal  to  sign  an 
abdication,  they  had  determined  that  a  public  trial  was  to  be  sub- 
stituted for  it,  and  that  her  defamation  would  be  certain,  and  the 
loss  of  her  crown  inevitable ;  whilst,  on  the  other  hand,  being 
secretly  her  friend — at  least  so  he  professed  himself — he  insinuated 
that  any  deed  signed  in  captivity,  and  under  fear  of  her  life,  would 
be  invalid.  Lyndsay  next  entered,  and  joined  with  Melville  in 
persuading  the  unhappy  Queen  to  sign.  Ruthven  was  soon  after- 


Loch  Leven.  33 


wards  introduced,  and  the  scene  which  followed  is  thus  detailed  by 
Scott  :— 

"Lord  Ruthven  had  the  look  and  bearing  which  became  a 
soldier  and  a  statesman,  and  the  martial  cast  of  his  form  and 
features  procured  him  the  popular  epithet  of  Greysteil,  by  which  he 
was  distinguished  by  his  intimates,  after  the  hero  of  a  metrical 
romance  then  generally  known.  His  dress,  which  was  a  buff-coat 
embroidered,  had  a  half-military  character,  but  exhibited  nothing 
of  the  sordid  negligence  which  distinguished  that  of  Lyndsay.  But 
the  son  of  an  ill-fated  sire,  and  the  father  of  a  yet  more  unfortunate 
family,  bore  in  his  look  that  cast  of  inauspicious  melancholy,  by 
which  the  physiognomists  of  that  time  pretended  to  distinguish 
those  who  were  predestined  to  a  violent  and  unhappy  death. 

"The  terror  which  the  presence  of  this  nobleman  impressed  on 
the  Queen's  mind,  arose  from  the  active  share  he  had  borne  in  the 
slaughter  of  David  Bizzio ;  his  father  having  presided  at  the  per- 
petration of  that  abominable  crime,  although  so  weak  from  long 
and  wasting  illness,  that  he  could  not  endure  the  weight  of  his 
armour,  having  arisen  from  a  sick-bed  to  commit  a  murther  in  the 
presence  of  his  Sovereign.  On  that  occasion  his  son  also  had 
attended  and  taken  an  active  part.  It  was  little  to  be  wondered  at 
that  the  Queen,  considering  her  condition  when  such  a  deed  of 
horror  was  acted  in  her  presence,  should  retain  an  instinctive  terror 
for  the  principal  actors  in  the  murther." 

After  some  conversation,  Lord  Ruthven  "  proceeded  to  read  a 
formal  instrument,  running  in  the  Queen's  name,  and  setting  forth 
that  she  had  been  called  at  an  early  age  to  the  administration  of 
the  crown  and  realm  of  Scotland,  and  had  toiled  diligently  therein, 


34  Loch  Leven. 

until  she  was  in  body  and  spirit  so  wearied  out  and  disgusted,  that 
she  was  unable  any  longer  to  endure  the  travail  and  pain  of  State 
ulluirs ;  and  that  since  God  blessed  her  with  a  fair  and  hopeful  son, 
she  was  desirous  to  ensure  to  him,  even  while  she  yet  lived,  his  suc- 
cession to  the  crown,  which  was  his  by  right  of  hereditary  descent. 
'  Wherefore/  the  instrument  proceeded,  *  we,  of  the  motherly 
affection  we  bear  to  our  said  son,  have  renounced  and  demitted, 
and  by  these  our  letters  of  free  good  will  renounce  and  demit,  the 
Crown,  government,  and  guiding  of  the  realm  of  Scotland,  in  favour 
of  our  said  son,  that  he  may  succeed  to  us  as  native  Prince  thereof, 
as  much  as  if  we  had  been  removed  by  decease,  and  not  by  our  own 
proper  act.  And,  that  this  demission  of  our  royal  authority  may 
have  the  more  full  and  solemn  effect,  and  none  pretend  ignorance, 
we  give,  grant,  and  commit  full  and  free  and  plain  power  to  our 
trusty  cousins,  Lord  Lyndsay  of  the  Byres,  and  William  Lord 
Ruthven,  to  appear  in  our  name  before  as  many  of  the  nobility, 
clergy,  and  burgesses  as  may  be  assembled  at  Stirling,  and  there, 
in  our  name  and  behalf,  publicly,  and  in  their  presence,  to  renounce 
the  Crown,  guidance,  and  government  of  this  our  kingdom  of 
Scotland.' " 

The  Queen  at  first  absolutely  refused  her  signature  to  such  a 
document.  Euthven  behaved  with  rudeness,  and  even  with  violence. 
He  blamed  her  for  all  the  misfortunes  of  Scotland  in  her  time  ;  he 
vowed  that  the  kingdom  could  no  longer  endure  her  rule  ;  he  insisted 
on  her  signature.  She  asked  a  few  moments  for  consideration,  and 
the  lords  left  her,  but  returned  shortly ;  and  "  when,"  to  continue 
the  narrative  as  it  is  given  by  Sir  Walter,  "  Lord  Ruthven  had  done 
speaking,  she  looked  up,  stopped  short,  and  threw  down  the  pen. 


Loch  Lev  en.  35 


'  If/  said  she,  '  I  am  expected  to  declare  I  give  away  my  crown  of 
free  will,  or  otherwise  than  because  I  am  compelled  to  renounce  it 
by  the  threat  of  worse  evils  to  myself  and  my  subjects,  I  will  not 
put  my  name  to  such  an  untruth — not  to  gain  full  possession  of 
England,  France,  and  Scotland,  all  once  my  own,  in  possession  or 
by  right.' 

"'Beware,  madam,'  said  Lyndsay,  and,  snatching  hold  of  the 
Queen's  arm  with  his  own  gauntletted  hand,  he  pressed  it,  in  the 
rudeness  of  his  passion,  more  closely,  perhaps,  than  he  was  himself 
aware  of, — 'beware  how  you  contend  with  those  who  are  the 
stronger,  and  have  the  mastery  of  your  fate. 

"  He  held  his  grasp  on  her  arm,  bending  his  eyes  on  her  with  a 
stern  and  intimidating  look,  till  both  Ruthven  and  Melville  cried 
shame ;  and  Douglas,  who  had  hitherto  remained  in  a  state  of 
apparent  apathy,  had  made  a  stride  from  the  door,  as  if  to  interfere. 
The  rude  Baron  then  quitted  his  hold,  disguising  the  confusion 
which  he  really  felt,  at  having  indulged  his  passion  to  such  extent, 
under  a  sullen  and  contemptuous  smile. 

"  The  Queen  immediately  began,  with  an  expression  of  pain,  to 
bare  the  arm  which  he  had  grasped,  by  drawing  up  the  sleeve  of 
her  gown,  and  it  appeared  that  his  grasp  had  left  the  purple  marks 
of  his  iron  fingers  upon  her  flesh — '  My  lord/  she  said,  '  as  a  knight 
and  gentleman,  you  might  have  spared  my  frail  arm  so  severe  a 
proof  that  you  have  the  greater  strength  on  your  side,  and  are 
resolved  to  use  it.  But  I  thank  you  for  it — it  is  the  most  decisive 
token  of  the  terms  on  which  this  day's  business  is  to  rest.  I  draw 
you  to  witness,  both  lords  and  ladies,'  she  said,  shewing  the  marks 
of  the  grasp  on  her  arm,  'that  I  subscribe  these  instruments  in 


36  Loch  Leven. 

obedience  to  the  sign-manual  of  my  Lord  of  Lyndsay,  which  you 
may  see  imprinted  on  mine  arm.' 

"  Lyndsay  would  have  spoken,  but  was  restrained  by  his  col- 
league Ruthven,  who  said  to  him,  '  Peace,  my  lord.  Let  the  Lady 
Mary  of  Scotland  ascribe  her  signature  to  what  she  will,  it  is  our 
business  to  procure  it,  and  carry  it  to  the  Council.  Should  there 
be  debate  hereafter  on  the  manner  in  which  it  was  adhibited,  there 
will  be  time  enough  for  it.' 

"  Lyndsay  was  silent  accordingly,  only  muttering  within  his 
beard,  '  I  meant  not  to  hurt  her ;  but  I  think  women's  flesh  be  as 
tender  as  new-fallen  snow.' 

"The  Queen  meanwhile  subscribed  the  rolls  of  parchment  with 
a  hasty  indifference,  as  if  they  had  been  matters  of  slight  con- 
sequence, or  of  mere  formality.  When  she  had  performed  this 
painful  task,  she  arose,  and  having  curtsied  to  the  lords,  was  about 
to  withdraw  to  her  chamber.  Ruthven  and  Sir  Robert  Melville 
made,  the  first  a  formal  reverence,  the  second  an  obeisance  in  which 
his  desire  to  acknowledge  his  sympathy  was  obviously  checked  by 
the  fear  of  appearing  in  the  eyes  of  his  colleagues  too  partial  to  his 
former  mistress."  Lyndsay  knelt  and  asked  her  pardon,  which 
she  granted  him  with  sweetness  and  dignity ;  and  so  this  most 
singular  scene  was  brought  to  a  close. 

We  must  pass  by  another  strange  scene  at  Loch  Leven,  when 
Murray,  the  captive  Queen's  half-brother,  visited  her,  and  proceed 
to  the  climax  of  the  story.  George  Douglas,  the  younger  son  of 
the  stern  guardian  of  the  Castle,  had  become  fascinated  by  the 
charms  of  Mary.  On  the  25th  March,  after  a  winter  of  captivity, 
lightened  only  by  the  hopes  of  escape  and  the  excitement  of  secretly 


Loch  Leven.  37 


communicating  with  her  friends  in  the  outer  world,  an  attempt  was 
made  by  this  infatuated  young  man  to  convey  her  across  the  lake. 
She  had  entered  the  boat  which  was  to  convey  her,  when  one  of  the 
boatmen  penetrated  her  disguise,  and  fearing  the  severity  of  the 
Laird,  in  spite  of  her  entreaties,  and  even  her  commands,  took  her 
back  to  her  prison.  After  this  unsuccessful  attempt  George  Douglas 
was  sent  away  from  the  castle,  but  he  did  not  leave  the  neighbour- 
hood. March  and  April  were  passed  in  vain  regrets  by  the  Queen, 
and  in  active  devotion  on  the  part  of  Douglas,  who  at  length 
matured  a  fresh  plan  for  her  delivery.  A  page — Little  Douglas, 
as  he  was  called — was  trusted  with  the  most  important  part  of  the 
design. 

"  The  keys  had,  with  the  wonted  ceremonial,  been  presented  to 
the  Lady  Lochleven.  She  stood  with  her  back  to  the  casement, 
which,  like  that  of  the  Queen's  apartment,  commanded  a  view  of 
Kinross,  with  the  church,  which  stands  at  some  distance  from  the 
town,  and  nearer  to  the  lake,  then  connected  with  the  town  by 
straggling  cottages.  With  her  back  to  this  casement,  then,  and 
her  face  to  the  table,  on  which  the  keys  lay  for  an  instant  while 
she  tasted  the  various  dishes  which  were  placed  there,  stood  the 
Lady  of  Lochleven,  more  provokingly  intent  than  usual — so  at 
least  it  seemed  to  her  prisoners — upon  the  huge  and  heavy  bunch 
of  iron,  the  implements  of  their  restraint.  Just  when,  having 
finished  her  ceremony  as  taster  of  the  Queen's  table,  she  was  about 
to  take  up  the  keys,  the  page,  who  stood  beside  her,  and  had 
handed  her  the  dishes  in  succession,  looked  side-ways  to  the 
churchyard,  and  exclaimed  he  saw  corpse-candles  in  the  church- 
yard. The  Lady  of  Lochleven  was  not  without  a  touch,  though  a 


38  Loch  Leven. 

slight  one,  of  the  superstitions  of  the  time ;  the  fate  of  her  sons 
made  her  alive  to  omens,  and  a  corpse-light,  as  it  was  called,  in 
the  family  burial-place,  boded  death.  She  turned  her  head  towards 
the  casement — saw  a  distant  glimmering — forgot  her  charge  for 
one  second,  and  in  that  second  were  lost  the  whole  fruits  of  her 
former  vigilance.  The  page  held  the  forged  keys  under  his  cloak, 
and  with  great  dexterity  exchanged  them  for  the  real  ones.  His 
utmost  address  could  not  prevent  a  slight  clash  as  he  took  up  the 
latter  bunch.  '  Who  touches  the  keys  ?'  said  the  Lady ;  and  while 
the  page  answered  that  the  sleeve  of  his  cloak  had  stirred  them, 
she  looked  round,  possessed  herself  of  the  bunch  which  now 
occupied  the  place  of  the  genuine  keys,  and  again  turned  to  gaze 
at  the  supposed  corpse-candles. 

" '  I  hold  these  gleams,'  she  said,  after  a  moment's  consideration, 
'  to  come,  not  from  the  churchyard,  but  from  the  hut  of  the  old 
gardener,  Blinkhoolie.  I  wonder  what  thrift  that  churl  drives,  that 
of  late  he  hath  ever  had  light  in  his  house  till  the  night  grew  deep. 
I  thought  him  an  industrious,  peaceful  man. — If  he  turns  resetter  of 
idle  companions  and  night-walkers,  the  place  must  be  rid  of  him.' " 

The  keys  were  quickly  conveyed  to  the  Queen.  The  writer 
proceeds  : — 

" '  We  have  but  brief  time/  said  Queen  Mary ;  '  one  of  the  two 
lights  in  the  cottage  is  extinguished — that  shows  the  boat  is  put 
off.' 

" '  They  will  row  very  slow,'  said  the  page,  '  or  kent  where 
depth  permits,  to  avoid  noise. — To  our  several  gear — I  will  com- 
municate with  the  good  Father.' 

"At  the  dead  hour  of  midnight,  when  all  was  silent  in  the 


Loch  Leven.  39 


castle,  the  page  put  the  key  into  the  lock  of  the  wicket  which 
opened  into  the  garden,  and  which  was  at  the  bottom  of  a  staircase 
that  descended  from  the  Queen's  apartment.  '  Now,  turn  smooth 
and  softly,  thou  good  bolt,'  said  he,  'if  ever  oil  softened  rust!' 
and  his  precautions  had  been  so  effectual,  that  the  bolt  revolved 
with  little  or  no  sound  of  resistance.  He  ventured  not  to  cross  the 
threshold,  but,  exchanging  a  word  with  the  disguised  Abbot,  asked 
if  the  boat  were  ready  ? 

" '  This  half  hour/  said  the  sentinel,  '  she  lies  beneath  the  wall, 
too  close  under  the  islet  to  be  seen  by  the  warder,  but  I  fear  she 
will  hardly  escape  his  notice  in  putting  off  again.' 

" '  The  darkness,'  said  the  page, '  and  our  profound  silence,  may 
take  her  off  unobserved,  as  she  came  in.  Hildebrand  has  the  watch 
on  the  tower — a  heavy-headed  knave,  who  holds  a  can  of  ale  to  be 
the  best  head-piece  upon  a  night-watch.  He  sleeps  for  a  wager.' 

"  The  ladies  were  then  partly  led,  partly  carried,  to  the  side  of 
the  lake,  where  a  boat  with  six  rowers  attended  them,  the  men 
crouched  along  the  bottom  to  secure  them  from  observation. 

" '  Pardon  me,  madam,  if  I  disobey/  said  the  intractable  young 
man ;  and  with  one  hand  lifting  in  Lady  Fleming,  he  begun 
himself  to  push  off  the  boat. 

"  She  was  two  fathoms'  length  from  the  shore,  and  the  rowers 
were  getting  her  head  round,  when  Roland  Graeme,  arriving, 
bounded  from  the  beach,  and  attained  the  boat,  overturning 
Seyton,  on  whom  he  lighted.  The  youth  swore  a  deep  but  sup- 
pressed oath,  and  stopping  Graeme  as  he  stepped  towards  the  stern, 


40  Loch  Leven. 


said,  '  Your  place  is  not  with  high-born  dames — keep  at  the  head 
and  trim  the  vessel. — Now  give  way — give  way. — Row,  for  God 
and  the  Queen  1* 

"  The  rowers  obeyed,  and  began  to  pull  vigorously. 

"  The  dialogue  was  here  interrupted  by  a  shot  or  two  from  one 
of  those  small  pieces  of  artillery  called  falconets,  then  used  in 
defending  castles.  The  shot  was  too  vague  to  have  any  effect,  but 
the  broader  flash,  the  deeper  sound,  the  louder  return  which  was 
made  by  the  midnight  echoes  of  Bennarty,  terrified  and  imposed 
silence  on  the  liberated  prisoners.  The  boat  was  alongside  of  a 
rude  quay  or  landing-place,  running  out  from  a  garden  of  consider- 
able extent,  ere  any  of  them  again  attempted  to  speak.  They 
landed,  and  while  the  Abbot  returned  thanks  aloud  to  Heaven, 
which  had  thus  far  favoured  their  enterprise,  Douglas  enjoyed  the 
best  reward  of  his  desperate  undertaking,  in  conducting  the  Queen 
to  the  house  of  the  gardener.  Yet,  not  unmindful  of  Roland  Graeme, 
even  in  that  moment  of  terror  and  exhaustion,  Mary  expressly 
commanded  Seyton  to  give  his  assistance  to  Fleming,  while 
Catherine  voluntarily,  and  without  bidding,  took  the  arm  of  the 
page.  Seyton  presently  resigned  Lady  Fleming  to  the  care  of  the 
Abbot,  alleging  he  must  look  after  their  horses ;  and  his  attend- 
ants, disencumbering  themselves  of  their  boat-cloaks,  hastened  to 
assist  him. 

•  •>..... 

" '  Farewell,  Father,'  said  the  Queen.  '  When  we  are  once 
more  seated  at  Holyrood,  we  will  neither  forget  thee  .nor  thine 
injured  garden.' 


Loch  Leven.  41 


" '  Forget  us  both/  said  the  Ex-Abbot  Boniface,  '  and  may  God 
be  with  you/ 

"As  they  hurried  out  of  the  house,  they  heard  the  old  man 
talking  and  muttering  to  himself,  as  he  hastily  drew  bolt  and  bar 
behind  them. 

"  '  The  revenge  of  the  Douglases  will  reach  the  poor  old  man/ 
said  the  Queen.  '  God  help  me,  I  ruin  everyone  whom  I  approach.' 

" '  His  safety  is  cared  for/  said  Seyton ;  '  he  must  not  remain 
here,  but  will  be  privately  conducted  to  a  place  of  greater  security. 
But  I  would  your  Grace  were  in  your  saddle. — To  horse !  to  horse! ' 

The  party  of  Seyton  and  of  Douglas  were  increased  to  about 
ten  by  those  attendants  who  had  remained  with  the  horses.  The 
Queen  and  her  ladies,  with  all  the  rest  who  came  from  the  boat, 
were  instantly  mounted ;  and  holding  aloof  from  the  village,  which 
was  already  alarmed  by  the  firing  from  the  castle,  with  Douglas 
acting  as  their  guide,  they  soon  reached  the  open  ground,  and 
began  to  ride  as  fast  as  was  consistent  with  keeping  together  in 
good  order." 

M.  Mignet  thus  takes  up  the  narrative  : — 

"  She  galloped  on  till  she  came  to  Niddry  Castle,  Lord  Seyton's 
residence  in  West  Lothian.  Here  she  took  a  few  hours'  rest,  and 
the  a  pursued  her  journey  to  the  strong  fortress  of  Hamilton,  where 
she  was  received  by  the  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews,  and  Lord 
Claud  Hamilton,  the  latter  of  whom  had  met  her  on  the  road  with 
fifty  horse.  On  arriving  at  this  place  of  safety,  she  issued  an 
appeal  to  all  her  partisans.  She  despatched  Heyburn  of  Kiccarton, 
one  of  Bothwell's  servants,  to  Dunbar,  with  the  hope  that  the 
Castle  would  be  delivered  to  her,  and  commanded  him  to  proceed 


42  Loch  Leven. 

afterwards  to  Denmark  and  inform  his  master  that  she  was  again 
at  liberty,  and  would  doubtless  soon  recover  her  lost  authority." 

From  the  same  source  we  obtain  several  particulars  which  do 
not  come  out  in  the  novel.  Willie  Douglas,  the  page,  locked  the 
gate  after  them  as  they  went  out,  and  threw  the  keys  into  the 
water.  In  1805,  a  boy  digging  on  the  sands  near  Kinross  House, 
when  the  lake  was  low  during  a  period  of  severe  drought,  found  a 
bunch  of  keys,  five  in  number,  no  doubt  the  very  same  which 
figured  on  this  memorable  occasion.  Other  relics  were  found  in 

o 

1821,  when  Loch  Leven  was  partly  drained.  Among  them  was  a 
gilt  key,  possibly  a  chamberlain's  badge  of  office,  bearing  the 
inscription,  Marie  Reg.  1565.  The  Earl  of  Morton,  who  is 
descended  from  the  elder  brother  of  George  Douglas,  preserves  at 
his  seat,  Dalmahoy,  near  Edinburgh,  a  folding  screen  made  of 
tapestry,  said  to  have  been  worked  during  her  imprisonment  by 
Queen  Mary  and  her  maids.  It  is  still  unfinished  as  it  was  left  on 
her  escape.  There  is  evidence  in  her  letters  to  her  former  chamber- 
lain, Melville,  that  she  made  request  for  gold  and  silver  thread, 
silk  and  needles,  suitable  for  such  work. 

Miss  Strickland  has  given  a  minute  description  of  this  screen 
in  her  "  Lives  of  the  Queens  of  Scotland."  She  mentions  that  it  is 
worked  in  fine  tent-stitch,  with  coloured  wools,  upon  canvas.  It  is 
now  arranged  in  three  breadths,  measuring  in  all  about  twelve 
yards  in  length,  the  whole  being  surmounted  by  a  border.  The 
design  was  believed  by  Sir  Walter  Scott  to  represent  some 
incidents  of  a  French  or  Italian  romance,  but  Miss  Strickland 
identified  all  the  scenes  with  events  in  the  life  of  Mary  herself. 
We  cannot  accept  this  explanation  as  at  all  probable.  Among  the 


Loch  Leven.  43 


figures  one  represents  a  gentleman  in  a  superb  dress,  who,  seated 
in  an  arm-chair,  bares  his  leg,  and  lays  it  on  a  block  before  him, 
while  two  executioners  prepare  to  amputate  it.  Another  figure, 
several  times  introduced,  is  standing  by  ;  and  this,  Miss  Strickland 
thought,  was  a  picture  of  the  angry  Queen  Elizabeth,  upon  whose 
orders  the  executioners  were  supposed  to  wait.  It  would  not  be 
easy  to  connect  this  extraordinary  scene  with  anything  that 
occurred  in  the  lives  of  Mary  or  of  her  equally  unfortunate 
husband.  Mary  was  always  fond  of  embroidery,  and  many  pieces 
besides  this  have  been  attributed  to  her  needle,  with  more  or  less 
show  of  authenticity.  Among  them  are  five  pieces,  also  forming  a 
screen,  on  which  the  contest  of  Eehoboam  and  Jeroboam  is 
depicted ;  a  history  which  Queen  Mary  might  well  have  laid  to 
heart  as  she  worked  it  on  the  canvas.  But  her  chefd'ceuvre  seems 
to  have  been  a  Crucifixion,  which  now  belongs  to  Lord  Howard, 
and  which  is  in  one  piece,  worked  in  silk  It  appears  to  have  been 
presented  by  Queen  Mary's  mother,  Mary  de  Guise,  to  Mary 
Fitzalan,  daughter  of  Henry,  Earl  of  Arundel,  and  afterwards 
Duchess  of  Norfolk,  ancestress  of  the  present  possessor.  It  bears 
an  inscription  on  the  back  which  is  not  easily  deciphered,  but  this 
seems  to  be  the  best  explanation. 

The  escape  from  Loch  Leven  was  accomplished  on  the  evening 
of  Sunday,  the  2nd  May,  1568. 


F  all  the  strange  characters  in  Scottish  history  there  is 
scarcely  one  more  uniformly  unpleasant  than  Margaret 
Tudor,  the  daughter  of  our  Henry  the  Seventh,  the  sister  of  our 
Henry  the  Eighth,  and  the  wife  of  James  the  Fourth,  who  was 
slain  at  Flodden.  She  seems  to  have  combined  in  a  remarkable 
degree  all  the  less  amiable  qualities  of  her  father  and  her  brother. 
Like  the  first,  she  was  calculating  and  cruel,  covetous  and  insincere ; 
like  the  second,  she  knew  no  bounds  to  the  violence  of  her  passions, 
and  was  apparently  always  able  to  satisfy  her  conscience  as  to  the 
justice  of  any  scheme  which  she  wished  to  gratify.  She  derived 
from  Edward  the  Fourth  the  personal  beauty  of  the  Plantagenets, 
and  joining  with  their  haughtiness  and  their  boldness  the  instability 
and  temper  which  she  inherited  from  her  Welsh  ancestors,  she 
became,  among  the  quarrelsome,  fierce,  uncertain,  and  revengeful 
nobles  of  the  northern  kingdom,  an  inciter  of  quarrels,  a  leader  of 
the  fierce,  a  by-word  for  inconstancy,  and  a  cause  of  feud  and 
bloodshed  as  long  as  she  lived,  and  for  years  after  her  death.  It 
was  her  unhappy  fate  to  be  at  first  the  wife  of  a  man  who  was 
openly  unfaithful  to  her,  and  to  be  left  under  most  difficult  and 
trying  circumstances  without  any  sincere  or  disinterested  adviser. 
Her  beauty  and  her  misfortunes  excite  our  sympathy,  until  her  errors 


Donne  Castle.  47 


and  her  crimes  repel  us.  She  is  the  most  interesting  figure  in  the 
history  of  Doune  Castle,  and  for  that  reason,  if  for  no  other,  we  are 
obliged  to  devote  a  little  attention  to  her  life.  Much  of  it  was 
passed  at  Doune,  and  the  Castle,  the  greater  part  of  which  was  pro- 
bably built  by  her,  or  in  her  time,  was  by  her  act,  but  indirectly, 
conveyed  into  the  possession  of  the  family  by  which  it  is  still  held 
after  the  lapse  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  years. 

Doune  Castle  was  built  by  Murdoch  Stewart,  second  Duke  of 
Albany,  nephew  of  Robert  the  Third,  and  Regent  of  Scotland 
during  the  absence  in  captivity  of  his  cousin  King  James  the  First. 
He  was  feeble  as  a  ruler,  slothful  in  his  own  habits,  and  left  to  his 
lawless  sons  the  power  of  injuring  the  kingdom  by  their  excesses, 
and  eventually  of  causing  the  ruin  of  their  father  and  his  family. 
King  James  returned  from  England  in  1424,  and,  to  use  the  words 
of  Sir  Walter  Scotfr- 

"  The  first  vengeance  of  the  laws  fell  upon  Murdac,  who,  with 
his  two  sons,  was  tried  and  condemned  at  Stirling  for  abuse  of  the 
King's  authority,  committed  while  Murdac  was  Regent.  They 
were  beheaded  at  the  little  eminence  at  Stirling,  which  is  still  shown 
on  the  Castle  HilL  The  Regent,  from  that  elevated  spot,  might 
have  a  distant  view  of  the  magnificent  castle  of  Doune,  which  he 
had  built  for  his  residence  ;  and  the  sons  had  ample  reason  to  regret 
their  contempt  of  their  father's  authority,  and  to  judge  the  truth  of 
his  words,  when  he  said  he  would  bring  in  one  who  would  rule  them 
all." 

Doune  was  forfeited  to  the  Crown,  and  remained  part  of  the 
Royal  estates  until  1503,  when  the  marriage  of  James  the  Fourth 
with  Margaret  Tudor  took  place,  and  Doune,  with  other  fair  estates, 


48  Doune  Castle. 


was  settled  on  the  bride.  Margaret  was  at  this  time  "an  ill- 
educated  girl  of  fourteen."  The  king  was  thirty,  and  the  pair  seem 
to  have  had  from  the  first  little  sympathy  or  affection  between 
them.  Miss  Strickland  says  ("  Lives  of  Queens  of  Scotland,"  Vol.  I., 
p.  68),  "  In  one  taste  alone  did  this  dissimilar  pair  agree,  which 
was  in  their  love  for  music.  The  Tudor  race  had  retained  their 
Celtic  predilection  for  that  science,  and  all  practically  excelled  in 
it.  The  Royal  Stuarts  possessed  much  instrumental  skill,  together 
with  the  inspiration  of  true  poetry.  Thus,  whatever  discrepancies 
there  might  have  been  between  James  Stuart  and  Margaret  Tudor 
in  age,  temper,  and  talents,  they  were  united  in  their  musical  pre- 
dilections." Their  life  otherwise  seems  to  have  been  by  no  means 
happy.  The  Queen  had  her  first  son  in  1506,  but  the  infant  soon 
died,  as  did  a  second ;  and  the  boy  who  was  destined  to  succeed  as 
King  James  the  Fifth  was  not  born  until  1512.  On  the  9th 
September,  1513,  her  husband  was  killed  at  the  fatal  battle  of 
Flodden.  Margaret  became  Regent  of  Scotland,  having  just  com- 
pleted her  twenty-fourth  year.  In  the  following  April  a  second 
son  was  born  to  her,  the  Duke  of  Ross.  But  she  had  not  waited  for 
this  event  before  she  commenced  to  look  about  her  for  a  second 
husband.  In  August  she  was  married  to  Archibald,  Earl  of  Angus, 
a  boy  not  yet  of  age.  We  have  no  intention  of  tracing  her  history 
during  the  remainder  of  the  time  in  which  she  was  united  to  Angus ; 
it  does  not  concern  Doune  Castle  and  its  destiny  ;  but  in  or  about 
1517  she  had  changed  her  views  respecting  him,  and  had  made  up 
her  mind  to  obtain  a  divorce,  and  to  find  another  husband.  Her 
sister-in-law,  Katherine  of  Arragon,  who  was  herself  destined  to 
experience  the  fickleness  of  the  Tudor  affections,  endeavoured  in 


Doune  Castk*  49 


vain  to  dissuade  her  from  her  purpose.  Angus  had  offended  her, 
and,  what  was  more  important,  she  was  in  love  with  another.  The 
handsome  Duke  of  Albany,  Kegent  of  Scotland,  was  the  object  of 
her  wishes,  though  he  had  a  wife  living  at  the  time.  But  the 
divorce  was  not  easily  obtained,  and  several  years  elapsed  before  it 
was  pronounced.  Meanwhile,  two  events  took  place  which  made  a 
serious  difference  in  her  views.  She  lost  her  beauty  by  an  attack 
of  small-pox,  and  she  changed  her  mind  about  Albany.  Towards 
the  end  of  1524  she  took  it  into  her  head  to  set  her  affections  upon 
one  Henry  Stewart,  second  son  of  Lord  Avondale,  the  head  of  a 
younger  branch  of  the  Stewart  family.  He  was  lieutenant  of  her 
son's  body-guard,  and  she  made  him  Treasurer  of  Scotland,  and, 
finally,  Lord  Chancellor.  In  1527  the  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews 
pronounced  the  divorce,  and  she  lost  no  time  in  acting  on  it.  She 
immediately  married  Henry  Stewart,  and  after  a  time  he  was 
acknowledged  by  the  King,  her  son.  Miss  Strickland  writes : — 
"  She  had  now  obtained  the  end  for  which  she  had  anxiously  striven 
for  more  than  eight  years.  Her  son  had  acknowledged  her  divorce 
by  his  recognition  and  favour  to  her  dear  Harry  Stuart,  who  was, 
from  a  younger  brother  and  needy  courtier,  raised  to  high  rank, 
with  the  fairest  barony  in  Scotland  for  his  inheritance  and  that  of 
their  children.  Her  inimical  husband,  Angus,  was  soon  afterwards 
chased  out  of  the  land  into  exile  in  England.  Angus  had  im- 
poverished the  Queen  by  seizing,  as  her  husband,  the  lands  with 
which  she  had  been  richly  endowed  by  the  Crown  of  Scotland  on 
her  marriage  with  James  IV.  It  may  be  freely  inferred  that  he 
was  forced  to  yield  up  his  prey,  for  on  his  flight  to  Henry  VIII. 
the  young  King  took  possession  of  his  vast  property,  and  divided  it 


50  Doune  Castle. 


amongst  those  who  had  aided  in  the  overthrow  of  the  Douglas 
power.  It  was  not  likely  that  the  King  forgot  to  restore  his 
mother  to  her  dower  lands.  But  Henry  VIII.  treated  his  sister's 
divorce  from  Angus  with  the  utmost  contempt,  reviled  her  new 
spouse,  speaking  of  him  disdainfully  as  'Lord  Muffin/  while  he 
called  Angus  his  dear  brother-in-law.  Margaret  was,  however, 
relieved  of  the  presence  of  her  troublesome  spouse  for  life.  She  was 
full  of  fondness  and  gratitude  to  Lord  Methven  for  the  assistance 
he  had  rendered  her  son,  whom  she  persuaded  to  settle  on  him  for 
life  the  castellanship  of  her  dower  castle  of  Doune,  in  the  County 
of  Perth.  James  V.  likewise  made  his  new  stepfather  general  of 
all  his  artillery,  regarding  him  with  constant  favour,  which  he  well 
deserved  by  his  fidelity.  Soon  after,  Lord  Methven  obtained  leave 
of  his  sovereign  to  relinquish  Doune  Castle  in  favour  of  his  landless 
brother,  James  Stuart,  who  had  served  the  King  faithfully,  and 
even  been  left  for  dead  at  the  battle  near  Linlithgow.  James  V., 
with  all  the  generosity  of  his  nature,  alienated  Doune  from  the 
Crown,  and  settled  it  on  Methven's  brother,  to  the  rage  and  indig- 
nation of  Queen  Margaret,  who  did  not  mean  to  lose  the  income 
when  she  settled  it  on  her  new  spouse.  It  was  a  first  quarrel 
between  her  and  her  dear  Harry  Stuart ;  but  the  offence  remained 
brooding  in  her  mind,  until  it  broke  out  long  years  afterwards, 
according  to  the  malicious  nature  of  the  Tudor  race." 

Thus  Doune  passed  from  the  Crown  to  the  private  family  who 
have  held  it  ever  since.  Before  we  detail  its  subsequent  history,  it 
may  be  interesting  to  finish  that  of  Queen  Margaret.  Before  many 
years  were  past  she  quarrelled  as  violently  with  Henry  Stewart, 
who  bore  the  title  of  Lord  Methven,  as  ever  she  had  done  with 


Doune  Castle.  51 


Angus,  and  but  for  the  special  interposition  of  her  son,  would  have 
obtained  a  second  divorce.  Last  of  all,  she  repented  of  her  treat- 
ment of  Angus;  and  in  1541  she  died,  "asking  God  mercy  that 
she  had  offended  the  said  Earl  as  she  had."  She  was  buried  at 
Perth  with  great  magnificence,  and  left,  besides  her  two  husbands, 
several  children  behind.  Her  son,  James  V.,  was  father  of  Mary, 
Queen  of  Scots,  and  her  daughter,  Lady  Margaret  Douglas,  was 
the  mother  of  Henry,  Lord  Darnley,  the  husband  of  that  queen. 

Doune  Castle  descended  peacefully  in  the  Stewart  family.  Sir 
James  Stewart  obtained  custody  of  it  on  the  14th  July,  1528.  Sir 
James  Stewart  succeeded  him,  and  a  third  Sir  James  married  the 
co-heiress  of  the  Eegent  Murray — or,  as  it  is  now  usually  spelt, 
Moray — and  with  her  obtained  the  earldom  which  the  family  still 
hold. 

From  this  time  on,  its  history  is  not  very  eventful.  Sir  Walter 
Scott  (Notes  to  Waverley)  says  of  it : — 

"  This  noble  ruin  is  dear  to  my  recollection,  from  associations 
which  have  been  long  and  painfully  broken.  It  holds  a  command- 
ing station  on  the  banks  of  the  Kiver  Teith,  and  has  been  one  of 
the  largest  castles  in  Scotland.  Murdock,  Duke  of  Albany,  the 
founder  of  this  stately  pile,  was  beheaded  on  the  Castle -hill  of 
Stirling,  from  which  he  might  see  the  towers  of  Doune,  the  monu- 
ment of  his  fallen  greatness. 

"  In  1745-6,  as  stated  in  the  text,  a  garrison  on  the  part  of  the 
Chevalier  was  put  into  the  castle,  then  less  ruinous  than  at  present. 
It  was  commanded  by  Mr.  Stewart  of  Balloch,  as  governor  for 
Prince  Charles ;  he  was  a  man  of  property  near  Callander.  This 
castle  became  at  that  time  the  actual  scene  of  a  romantic  escape 


52  Doune  Castle. 


made  by  John  Home,  the  author  of  Douglas,  and  some  other 
prisoners,  who,  having  been  taken  at  the  battle  of  Falkirk,  were 
confined  there  by  the  insurgents.  The  poet,  who  had  in  his  own 
mind  a  large  stock  of  that  romantic  and  enthusiastic  spirit  of 
adventure  which  he  has  described  as  animating  the  youthful  hero 
of  his  drama,  devised  and  undertook  the  perilous  enterprise  of 
escaping  from  his  prison.  He  inspired  his  companions  with  his 
sentiments,  and  when  every  attempt  at  open  force  was  deemed 
hopeless,  they  resolved  to  twist  their  bedclothes  into  ropes,  and 
thus  to  descend.  Four  persons,  with  Home  himself,  reached  the 
ground  in  safety.  But  the  rope  broke  with  the  fifth,  who  was  a 
tall,  lusty  man.  The  sixth  was  Thomas  Barrow,  a  brave  young 
Englishman,  a  particular  friend  of  Home's.  Determined  to  take 
the  risk,  even  in  such  unfavourable  circumstances,  Barrow  com- 
mitted himself  to  the  broken  rope,  slid  down  on  it  as  far  as  it  could 
assist  him,  and  then  let  himself  drop.  His  friends  beneath  suc- 
ceeded in  breaking  his  fall  Nevertheless,  he  dislocated  his  ancle, 
and  had  several  of  his  ribs  broken.  His  companions,  however,  were 
able  to  bear  him  off  in  safety. 

"  The  Highlanders  next  morning  sought  for  their  prisoners  with 
great  activity.  An  old  gentleman  told  the  author  he  remembered 
seeing  the  commander,  Stewart, 

'  Bloody  with  spurring,  fiery  red  with  haste,' 

riding  furiously  through  the  country  in  quest  of  the  fugitives." 
A  further  description  is  given  in  the  body  of  the  work.     In 

Chapter  xxxvin.  we  read  of  Waverley's  visit  to  Doune  after  his 

capture,  and  on  his  way  to  Edinburgh : — 

"  The  country  around  was  at  once  fertile  and  romantic.     Steep 


Donne  Castle.  53 


banks  of  wood  were  broken  by  corn-fields,  which  this  year  presented 
an  abundant  harvest,  already  in  a  great  measure  cut  down. 

"  On  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river,  and  partly  surrounded  by 
a  winding  of  its  stream,  stood  a  large  and  massive  castle,  the  half- 
ruined  turrets  of  which  were  already  glittering  in  the  first  rays  of 
the  sun.  It  was  in  form  an  oblong  square,  of  size  sufficient  to  con- 
tain a  large  court  in  the  centre.  The  towers  at  each  angle  of  the 
square  rose  higher  than  the  walls  of  the  building,  and  were  in  their 
turn  surmounted  by  turrets,  differing  in  height,  and  irregular  in 
shape.  Upon  one  of  these  a  sentinel  watched,  whose  bonnet  and 
plaid,  streaming  in  the  wind,  declared  him  to  be  a  Highlander,  as 
a  broad  white  ensign,  which  floated  from  another  tower,  announced 
that  the  garrison  was  held  by  the  insurgent  adherents  of  the  House 
of  Stuart. 

"  Passing  hastily  through  a  small  and  mean  town,  where  their 
appearance  excited  neither  surprise  nor  curiosity  in  the  few  peasants 
whom  the  labours  of  the  harvest  began  to  summon  from  their  re- 
pose, the  party  crossed  an  ancient  and  narrow  bridge  of  several 
arches,  and  turning  to  the  left,  up  an  avenue  of  huge  old  syca- 
mores, Waverley  found  himself  in  front  of  the  gloomy  yet 
picturesque  structure  which  he  had  admired  at  a  distance.  A  huge 
iron-grated  door,  which  formed  the  exterior  defence  of  the  gateway, 
was  already  thrown  back  to  receive  them ;  and  a  second,  heavily 
constructed  of  oak,  and  studded  thickly  with  iron  nails,  being  next 
opened,  admitted  them  into  the  interior  court-yard.  A  gentleman 
dressed  in  the  Highland  garb,  and  having  a  white  cockade  in  his 
bonnet,  assisted  Waverley  to  dismount  from  his  horse,  and  with 
much  courtesy  bid  him  welcome  to  the  castle. 


54  Doune  Castle. 


"  The  governor — for  so  we  must  term  him — having  conducted 
Waverley  to  a  half -ruinous  apartment,  where,  however,  there  waa 
a  small  camp-bed,  and  having  offered  him  any  refreshment  which 
he  desired,  was  then  about  to  leave  him. 

"  '  Will  you  not  add  to  your  civilities,'  said  Waverley,  after 
having  made  the  usual  acknowledgment,  '  by  having  the  kindness 
to  inform  me  where  I  am,  and  whether  or  not  I  am  to  consider 
myself  as  a  prisoner  ? ' 

"  '  I  am  not  at  liberty  to  be  so  explicit  upon  this  subject  as  I 
could  wish.  Briefly,  however,  you  are  in  the  Castle  of  Doune,  in 
the  district  of  Menteith,  and  in  no  danger  whatever.' 

"  '  And  how  am  I  assured  of  that  ?' 

"  '  By  the  honour  of  Donald  Stewart,  governor  of  the  garrison, 
and  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  service  of  his  Royal  Highness  Prince 
Charles  Edward.'  So  saying,  he  hastily  left  the  apartment,  as  if 
to  avoid  further  discussion. 

"  Exhausted  by  the  fatigues  of  the  night,  our  hero  now  threw 
himself  upon  the  bed,  and  waa  in  a  few  minutes  fast  asleep." 


^  OCH  KATRINE  possesses  a  double  interest  for  the  visitor. 

J  It  is  the  scene  of  one  of  the  most  charming  of  romances, 
and  of  one  of  the  greatest  triumphs  of  modern  engineering  skill. 
This  combination  is  not  a  very  happy  one.  The  sight-seer 
who  only  goes  to  Loch  Katrine  for  the  sake  of  the  scenery, 
and  cares  for  nothing  more  prosaic  than  an  attempt  to  identify 
every  situation  in  the  Lady  of  the  Lake,  must  be  disappointed  in 
many  particulars.  He  can  find  nothing  which  will  answer  to  the 
G  oblin  Cave.  No  tale  of  real  life  is  connected  with  the  place.  The 
very  name  which  sounds  so  pretty  is  in  all  probability  the  result  of 
the  very  bad  character  the  lake  once  had  as  the  refuge  and  abode 
of  "  caterans,"  or  freebooters.  There  are  several  other  lakes  in 
Scotland,  and  even  within  a  short  distance  of  Loch  Katrine,  which 
not  only  equal,  but  excel  it  in  beauty.  Yet  such  is  the  subtle 
charm  which  Scott  has  thrown  over  it,  that  every  turn  of  the  sur- 
rounding paths,  every  tree  almost,  every  view,  and  many  things 
which  in  another  place  would  be  quite  destitute  of  interest,  are 
here  invested  with  a  power  to  touch  the  imagination  and  even  the 
heart  of  thousands.  Whatever  disappointment  we  may  feel  at  the 
place  itself  is  more  than  compensated  by  the  pleasure  to  be  derived 
in  a  fresh  reading  of  Scott's  delightful  poem.  When  we  have  seen 
the  locality  it  describes,  we  return  with  renewed  admiration  to  the 


58  Loch  Katrine. 


Lady  of  the  Lake,  and  acknowledging  the  power  of  his  spell,  find 
more  and  more  cause  of  amazement  at  the  wonderful  genius  of  the 
Wizard  of  the  North.  The  poetry  of  Scott  may  not  be  of  the 
highest  kind  ;  it  may  not  abound  in  flights  of  sublimity,  nor  even 
reach  the  rugged  strength  of  Burns  ;  but  it  has  one  quality  which 
must  always — as  long,  that  is,  as  our  language  exists — render  it  a 
cause  of  pleasure  to  all  English-speaking  and  English-reading 
people — it  is  true  to  nature,  and  it  is  simple.  A  child  may  enjoy 
Marmion  or  the  Lord  of  the  Isles,  while  of  the  Lady  of  the  Lake 
it  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that  it  created  Loch  Katrine. 

But  to  practical  people,  and  also,  indeed,  to  many  who  love 
poetry  as  well,  Loch  Katrine  is  the  centre  of  another  kind  of 
interest.  Near  the  southern  shore  a  row  of  shafts  rising  from  the 
water's  edge  mark  the  commencement  of  the  famous  aqueduct  by 
which  Glasgow,  thirty -four  miles  distant,  is  supplied  with  water. 
Seventy  millions  of  gallons  are  daily  conducted  from  Loch  Katrine 
by  means  of  piping  and  tunnelling  ;  and  the  lake,  instead  of  losing 
by  the  withdrawal  of  such  a  vast  quantity  of  water,  is  in  reality 
improved,  the  level  being  now,  owing  to  the  care  taken  in  penning 
in  the  mountain  streams,  more  than  five  feet  higher  than  before  the 
opening  of  the  works.  Loch  Katrine  is  four  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
above  the  sea,  and  the  fall  of  the  water  on  its  way  to  Glasgow  is 
thus  sufficient  for  all  purposes  to  which  it  may  be  turned.  It  is 
difficult  not  to  see  in  this  great  and  really  philanthropical  under- 
taking a  matter  for  reflection,  and  even  for  surprise,  as  great  as  any 
which  the  scenery  alone  can  afford ;  and  before  proceeding  to 
describe  the  lake,  under  the  guidance  of  the  poet,  we  may  pause  to 
look  with  the  engineer  at  this  remarkable  and  successful  triumph  of 


Loch  Katrine.  59 


his  art.  In  a  communication  to  the  compiler  of  Murray's  Hand- 
look  for  Scotland,  Sir  George  Airy  has  given  an  account  of  the 
Glasgow  waterworks,  from  which  we  venture  to  quote  the  following 
passages : — 

"  The  singularity  which  perhaps  will  first  occur  to  the  reader  is 
that  a  portion  of  the  waters  which,  in  the  course  of  nature,  reached 
the  sea  by  the  eastern  estuary  of  the  Forth,  is  now  turned  to  the 
supply  of  the  great  city  on  the  western  estuary  of  the  Clyde.  This 
has  arisen  from  two  circumstances.  First,  that  Loch  Katrine,  the 
highest  of  the  reservoirs  of  water  supplying  the  Forth  (by  its  con- 
fluent the  Teith),  is  far  west ;  secondly,  that  the  elevation  of  Loch 
Katrine  is  considerable.  But  for  the  latter  circumstance,  it  would 
have  been  difficult  to  convey  the  water  of  Loch  Katrine  over  the 
high  ground  which  divides  the  basins  of  the  Forth  and  the  Clyde  ; 
and  it  was  apparently  to  facilitate  this,  that  the  water  of  Loch 
Katrine  is  now  dammed  to  a  height  about  five  feet  above  its  natural 
elevation. 

"  Though  the  Teith,  of  which  Loch  Katrine  is  the  head,  is  an 
affluent  of  the  Forth,  yet  their  upper  basins,  being  separated  by 
hilly  ground,  must  be  considered  as  on  different  rivers.  The  basin 
of  the  Forth,  whose  head  is  in  Ben  Lomond,  lies  between  that  of 
the  Teith  and  that  of  the  Clyde.  To  gain  the  basin  of  the  Forth, 
it  was  necessary  to  pierce  the  hills  bounding  the  south  side  of  Loch 
Katrine.  In  passing  by  boat  along  the  lake,  from  the  Trossachs  to 
the  landing-pier  of  Stronachlachar,  the  tourist  will  remark,  on  the 
left  hand,  a  little  more  than  a  mile  before  reaching  the  pier,  the 
entrance-woi-ks  of  the  water-conduit.  They  may  be  visited  by  a 


60  Loch  Katrine. 


road  from  Stronachlachar.  They  consist  of  the  usual  defences 
against  the  entrance  of  extraneous  matter,  and  gates  and  sluices  for 
regulating  the  influx  of  water ;  well  worthy  of  examination,  but 
requiring  no  special  notice  here.  The  watercourse  immediately 
pierces  the  hill  by  a  tunnel  about  a  mile  long  (the  air-shafts  of 
which  can  be  seen  from  the  lake),  and  opens  upon  one  of  the  streams 
of  Loch  Chon,  which  is  a  feeder  of  the  Forth.  It  passes  on  the 
south-west  sides  of  Loch  Chon  and  of  the  upper  part  of  Loch  Ard, 
crosses  the  Duchray  water,  passes  through  a  desolate  country, 
crosses  many  streams  of  the  Forth ;  and  near  the  summit  of  the 
Forth  and  Clyde  Junction  Railway,  close  to  the  Balfron  station,  at 
a  height  of  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  it  quits  the  basin  of 
the  Forth  for  that  of  the  Endrick,  which  it  subsequently  quits  at  a 
lower  level  for  that  of  the  Clyde  proper. 

"  The  parts,  however,  which  more  immediately  concern  the 
Loch  Katrine  tourist  are  the  sluices  at  the  outlets  of  the  lakes.  It 
is  obviously  necessary  to  have  a  sluice  at  the  outlet  of  Loch 
Katrine,  for  maintaining  the  water  at  a  height  sufficient,  but  not 
inconvenient,  for  the  discharge  into  the  Glasgow  conduit ;  and  this 
sluice  will  be  found  at  the  bottom  of  the  Beal-nam-bo.  It  consists, 
as  is  usual,  of  adjustible  sliding  sluice-gates  (managed  by  rack-and- 
pinion  machinery)  and  a  weir ;  it  also  contains,  what  is  less  usual, 
a  salmon-ladder,  to  enable  the  salmon  to  leap  up  into  Loch  Katrine. 
This  sluice  in  itself  is  sufficient  for  the  mere  management  of  the 
water-supply  to  Glasgow  ;  but  commercial  considerations  required 
an  additional  system  of  sluices.  The  streams  of  the  Teith  and  the 
Forth  are  employed  to  give  motion  to  various  mills,  and  to  serve  in 


Loch  Katrine.  61 


various  manufactures ;  and,  considering  the  large  amount  of  water 
abstracted  for  the  supply  of  Glasgow,  there  was  great  fear  that  in 
dry  seasons  the  discharge  from  the  outlet  of  Loch  Vennachar  would 
be  absolutely  stopped,  and  the  mills  and  manufactures  would  be 
deprived  of  their  necessary  waters.  A  large  sluice  (much  larger 
than  that  at  the  outlet  of  Loch  Katrine)  is  therefore  established  at 
the  ancient  Coilantogle  Ford,  at  the  outlet  of  Loch  Vennachar, 
and  is  kept  under  the  most  careful  daily  regulation.  In  wet 
seasons,  the  water  (which  otherwise  would  have  been  wasted  in  an 
injurious  torrent  rushing  downwards  to  Stirling  and  the  Forth)  is 
treasured  up,  raising  the  surface  of  Loch  Vennachar ;  and  in  dry 
seasons,  the  water  of  this  accumulated  store  is  discharged,  by  regu- 
lated openings  of  the  sluice-gates,  for  the  benefit  of  the  mills.  It 
was  laid  down  as  a  condition  that  the  supply  of  water  to  the  river 
should  never  be  less  than  double  the  minimum  in  the  former  state 
of  the  lakes,  and  it  is  believed  that  this  condition  has  been  main- 
tained without  difficulty." 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  less  utilitarian  aspect  of  Loch  Katrine. 
Here  we  cannot  do  better  than  follow  Sir  Walter  Scott.  With  the 
Lady  of  the  Lake  in  our  hands  we  are  under  the  best  guidance. 
Starting  from  the  little  pier  at  the  eastern  end,  and  hardly  out  of 
the  Trossachs,  we  find  ourselves  in  a  few  minutes  in  the  very  thick 
of  the  romantic  associations.  The  lofty  peak  of  Benvenue  towers 
nearly  three  thousand  feet  into  mid-air  on  the  left,  and  forms  the 
best  possible  background  for  the  view.  Thus  it  is  that  Scott  sees 
it  in  the  lines  (Canto  First,  XL,  xn.)  : — 

"  The  western  waves  of  ebbing  day 
Rolled  o'er  the  glen  their  level  way  ; 


62  Loch  Katrine. 


Each  purple  peak,  each  flinty  spire, 
Was  bathed  in  floods  of  living  fire. 
But  not  a  setting  beam  could  glow 
Within  the  dark  ravines  below, 
Where  twined  the  path  in  shadow  hid, 
Round  many  a  rocky  pyramid, 
Shooting  abruptly  from  the  dell 
Its  thunder-splintered  pinnacle ; 
Round  many  an  insulated  mass, 
The  native  bulwarks  of  the  pass, 
Huge  as  the  tower  which  builders  vain 
Presumptuous  piled  on  Shinar's  plain. 
The  rocky  summits,  split  and  rent, 
Formed  turret,  dome,  or  battlement, 
Or  seemed  fantastically  set 
With  cupola  or  minaret, 
Wild  crests  as  pagod  ever  decked, 
Or  mosque  of  Eastern  architect 
Nor  were  these  earth-born  castles  bare, 
Nor  lacked  they  many  a  banner  fair ; 
For,  from  their  shivered  brows  displayed, 
Far  o'er  the  unfathomable  glade, 
All  twinkling  with  the  dewdrops  sheen, 
The  brier-rose  fell  in  streamers  green, 
And  creeping  shrubs,  of  thousand  dyes, 
Waved  in  the  west- wind's  summer  sighs. 
Boon  Nature  scattered,  free  and  wild, 
Each  plant  or  flower,  the  mountain's  child. 
Here  eglantine  embalmed  the  air, 
Hawthorn  and  hazel  mingled  there ; 
The  primrose  pale  and  violet  flower, 
Found  in  each  cliff  a  narrow  bower ; 
Foxglove  and  nightshade,  side  by  side, 
Emblems  of  punishment  and  pride, 
Grouped  their  dark  hues  with  every  stain 
The  weather-beaten  crags  retain. 


Loch  Katrine.  63 


"With  boughs  that  quaked  at  every  breath, 
Grey  birch  and  aspen  wept  beneath ; 
Aloft,  the  ash  and  warrior  oak 
Cast  anchor  in  the  rifted  rock ; 
And,  higher  yet,  the  pine-tree  hung 
His  shattered  trunk,  and  frequent  flung, 
Where  seemed  the  cliffs  to  meet  on  high, 
His  boughs  athwart  the  narrowed  sky. 
Highest  of  all,  where  white  peaks  glanced, 
Where  glist'ning  streamers  waved  and  danced, 
The  wanderer's  eye  could  barely  view 
The  summer  heaven's  delicious  blue  ; 
So  wondrous  wild,  the  whole  might  seem 
The  scenery  of  a  fairy  dream." 

The  birches  are  nearly  all  gone.  But  the  rest  of  this  descrip- 
tion is  admirably  true.  Fitz- James,  climbing  the  steep,  and  issuing 
from  the  glen,  looks  down  on  the  lake  : — 

"  Where,  gleaming  with  the  setting  sun, 
One  burnished  sheet  of  living  gold, 
Loch  Katrine  lay  beneath  him  rolled, 
In  all  her  length  far  winding  lay, 
With  promontory,  creek,  and  bay, 
And  islands  that,  empurpled  bright, 
Floated  amid  the  livelier  light, 
And  mountains,  that  like  giants  stand, 
To  sentinel  enchanted  land. 
High  on  the  south,  huge  Benvenue 
Down  on  the  lake  in  masses  threw 
Crags,  knolls,  and  mounds,  confus'dly  hurled, 
The  fragments  of  an  earlier  world  ; 
A  wildering  forest  feathered  o'er 
His  ruined  sides  and  summit  hoar, 
While  on  the  north,  through  middle  air, 
Ben-an  heaved  high  his  forehead  bare." 


64  Loch  Katrine. 


The  tourist  is  now  well  out  into  the  expanse  of  the  lake,  not  very 
great  at  the  most.  Although  some  five  hundred  feet  in  depth, 
Loch  Katrine  is  only  a  couple  of  miles  in  width  at  the  broadest 
part,  and  its  whole  length  from  the  Trossachs  to  the  Stronachlachar 
Pier  is  under  ten  miles.  The  traveller  who  is  able  to  walk  should 
endeavour  to  take  the  road  which  runs  along  the  northern  shore. 
He  will  thus  be  able  to  follow  Scott's  descriptions  much  more 
nearly  than  from  the  deck  of  the  steamer,  which  does  not  go  very 
near  the  point  at  which  Fitz- James  is  supposed  to  emerge  from  the 
woods  and  come  in  sight  of  the  water.  The  road,  or  rather  path — 
for  it  is  impassable  for  carriages — brings  us  first  to  Ellen's  Isle^ 
which  rises  abruptly,  covered  with  a  thicket  of  dark  foliage  : — 

"  The  stranger  viewed  the  shore  around, 
'Twas  all  so  close  with  copsewood  bound, 
Nor  track  nor  pathway  might  declare 
That  human  foot  frequented  there, 
Until  the  mountain-maiden  showed 
A  clambering  unsuspected  road, 
That  winded  through  the  tangled  screen, 
And  opened  on  a  narrow  green, 
Where  weeping  birch  and  willow  round 
With  their  long  fibres  swept  the  ground. 
Here,  for  retreat  in  dangerous  hour, 
Some  chief  had  framed  a  rustic  bower. 

The  wild-rose,  eglantine,  and  broom, 
Wasted  around  their  rich  perfume  ; 
The  birch-trees  wept  in  fragrant  balm, 
The  aspens  slept  beneath  the  calm ; 
The  silver  light,  with  quivering  glance, 
Played  on  the  water's  still  expanse, — 
Wild  were  the  heart  whose  passions'  sway 
Could  rage  beneath  the  sober  ray  !" 


Loch  Katrine.  65 


The  southern  shore  of  the  lake  is  full  of  associations  of  a  very 
similar  character.  The  beautiful  woods  which  clothe  the  foot  of 
Benvenue  afford  innumerable  opportunities  for  verifying  and 
realising  passages  in  this  and  other  poems  of  Scott.  Near  the 
water's  edge  "is  a  very  steep  and  most  romantic  hollow  in  the 
mountain  of  Benvenue,  overhanging  the  south-eastern  extremity  of 
Loch  Katrine.  It  is  surrounded  with  stupendous  rocks,  and  over- 
shadowed with  birch-trees,  mingled  with  oaks,  the  spontaneous 
production  of  the  mountain,  even  where  its  cliffs  appear  denuded 
of  soil.  A  dale  in  so  wild  a  situation,  and  amid  a  people  whose 
genius  bordered  on  the  romantic,  did  not  remain  without  appro- 
priate deities.  The  name  literally  implies  the  Corri,  or  Den,  of  the 
Wild  or  Shaggy  Men.  Perhaps  this,  as  conjectured  by  Mr.  Alex. 
Campbell,  may  have  originally  only  implied  its  being  the  haunt  of 
a  ferocious  banditti.  But  tradition  has  ascribed  to  the  Urisk,  who 
gives  name  to  the  cavern,  a  figure  between  a  goat  and  a  man  ;  in 
short,  however  much  the  classical  reader  may  be  startled,  precisely 
that  of  the  Grecian  Satyr.  The  Urisk  seems  not  to  have  inherited, 
with  the  form,  the  petulance  of  the  sylvan  deity  of  the  classics  : 
his  occupation,  on  the  contrary,  resembled  those  of  Milton's  Lubbar 
Fiend,  or  of  the  Scottish  Brownie,  though  he  differed  from  both  in 
name  and  appearance.  '  The  Uriahs,'  says  Dr.  Graham,  *  were  a 
set  of  lubberly  supernaturals,  who,  like  the  Brownies,  could  be 
gained  over  by  kind  attention  to  perform  the  drudgery  of  the 
farm,  and  it  was  believed  that  many  of  the  families  in  the  High- 
lands had  one  of  the  order  attached  to  it.  They  were  supposed  to 
be  dispersed  over  the  Highlands,  each  in  his  own  wild  recess,  but 
the  solemn  stated  meetings  of  the  order  were  regularly  held  in  this 


66  Loch  Katrine. 


Cave  of  Benvenue.  This  current  superstition,  no  doubt,  alludes  to 
some  circumstance  in  the  ancient  history  of  this  country.' — Scenery 
on  the  Southern  Confines  of  Perthshire,  p.  19,  1806.  It  must  be 
owned  that  the  Coir,  or  Den,  does  not,  in  its  present  state,  meet 
our  ideas  of  a  subterraneous  grotto,  or  cave,  being  only  a  small  and 
narrow  cavity,  among  huge  fragments  of  rocks  rudely  piled 
together.  But  such  a  scene  is  liable  to  convulsions  of  nature, 
which  a  Lowlander  cannot  estimate,  and  which  may  have  choked 
up  what  was  originally  a  cavern.  At  least  the  name  and  tradition 
warrant  the  author  of  a  fictitious  tale  to  assert  its  having  been  such 
at  the  remote  period  in  which  this  scene  is  laid." 

This  passage  is  from  the  Notes  to  the  Lady  of  the  Lake ;  but 
there  is  in  reality  no  cave  on  the  shore  which  would  afford  the 
slightest  shelter,  and  a  poetical  licence  of  the  largest  kind  must  be 
allowed.  The  boatmen  show  travellers  the  only  spot  which  at  all 
approaches  the  description,  but  it  is  rather  lower  down  than  the 
foregoing  passage  would  seem  to  indicate.  Dr.  Graham  gives  a 
more  precise  account : — 

"  After  landing  on  the  skirts  of  Benvenue,  we  reach  the  Cave 
(or  more  properly  the  Cove)  of  the  Goblins,  by  a  steep  and  narrow 
defile  of  a  few  hundred  yards  in  length.  It  is  a  deep  circular 
amphitheatre  of  at  least  six  hundred  yards  of  extent  in  its  upper 
diameter,  gradually  narrowing  towards  the  base,  hemmed  in  all 
round  by  steep  and  towering  rocks,  and  rendered  impenetrable  to 
the  rays  of  the  sun  by  a  close  covert  of  luxuriant  trees.  On  the 
south  and  west  it  is  bounded  by  the  precipitous  shoulder  of  Ben- 
venue,  to  the  height  of  at  least  five  hundred  feet ;  towards  the 
east,  the  rock  appears  at  some  former  period  to  have  tumbled  down, 


Loch  Katrine.  67 


strewing  the  whole  course  of  its  fall  with  immense  fragments,  which 
now  serve  only  to  give  shelter  to  foxes,  wild  cats,  and  badgers." 

But  the  poem  itself  gives  a  vivid  picture  of  the  surroundings  of 
the  spot : — 

"  In  Benvenue's  most  darksome  cleft, 
A  fair,  though  cruel,  pledge  was  left ; 
For  Douglas,  to  his  promise  true, 
That  morning  from  the  isle  withdrew 
And  in  a  deep  sequester'd  dell 
Had  sought  a  low  and  lonely  celL 
By  many  a  bard,  in  Celtic  tongue, 
Has  Coir-nan  Uriskin  been  sung ; 
A  softer  name  the  Saxons  gave, 
And  called  the  grot  the  Goblin  Cave. 
It  was  a  wild  and  strange  retreat, 
As  e'er  was  trod  by  outlaw's  feet. 
The  dell,  upon  the  mountain's  crest, 
Yawned  like  a  gash  on  warrior's  breast ; 
Its  trench  had  staid  full  many  a,  rock, 
Hurled  by  primeval  earthquake  shock 
From  Benvenue's  grey  summit  wild, 
And  here,  in  random  ruin  piled, 
They  frowned  incumbent  o'er  the  spot, 
And  formed  the  rugged  sylvan  grot. 
The  oak  and  birch,  with  mingled  shada 
At  noontide  there  a  twilight  made, 
Unless  when  short  and  sudden  shone 
Some  straggling  beam  on  cliff  or  stone. 
With  such  a  glimpse  as  prophet's  eye 
Gains  on  thy  depth,  Futurity. 
No  murmur  waked  the  solemn  still, 
Save  tinkling  of  a  fountain  rill ; 
But  when  the  wind  chafed  with  the  lake, 
A  sullen  sound  would  upward  break, 


68  Loch  Katrine. 


With  dashing  hollow  voice,  that  spoke 
The  incessant  war  of  wave  and  rock. 
Suspended  cliffs,  with  hideous  sway, 
Seemed  nodding  o'er  the  cavern  grey. 
From  such  a  den  the  wolf  had  sprung, 
In  such  the  wild  cat  leaves  her  young ; 
Yet  Douglas  and  his  daughter  fair 
Sought  for  a  space  their  safety  there. 
Grey  Superstition's  whisper  dread 
Debarred  the  spot  to  vulgar  tread ; 
For  there,  she  said,  did  fays  resort, 
And  satyrs  hold  their  sylvan  court, 
By  moonlight  tread  their  mystic  maze, 
And  blast  the  rash  beholder's  gaze." 

Above  the  Goblin's  Cave,  higher  up  the  face  of  Benvenue,  is 
the  pass  called  in  the  poem,  Beal-nam-bo,  or,  in  full,  Bealach-nam- 
bo,  "  The  Cattle  Pass."  It  is  to  be  feared  that  in  the  old  cateran 
days  Ellen's  Isle  was  a  place  for  the  concealment  of  cattle  stolen 
from  the  Lowlands,  and  perhaps  a  "  cattle-pen,  shambles,  and 
larder,"  all  in  one.  The  clan  Macgregor  drove  their  booty  to  this 
place  of  refuge  from  the  Lowlands  beyond  Loch  Lomond  by  the 
pass  of  Bealach-nam-bo,  the  only  practicable  road  between  Ben- 
venue  itself  and  the  water's  edge.  It  is  now  visited  by  the 
traveller  with  a  very  different  purpose,  for  it  affords  some  of  the 
grandest  scenery  in  the  whole  district.  From  a  shoulder  of  the 
mountain,  perhaps  a  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  lake,  the 
view  is  most  charming.  Few  of  us  have  seen  it  at  sunrise,  and  it 
may  even  be  questioned  whether  Scott  himself  had  ever  witnessed 
what  he  so  vividly  paints  in  these  lines  from  the  beginning  of  the 
third  canto : — 


Loch  Katrine.  69 


"  The  summer  dawn's  reflected  hue 
To  purple  changed  Loch  Katrine  blue ; 
Mildly  and  soft  the  western  breeze 
Just  kissed  the  lake,  just  stirred  the  trees, 
And  the  pleased  lake,  like  maiden  coy, 
Trembled  but  dimpled  not  for  joy ; 
The  mountain-shadows  on  her  breast 
Were  neither  broken  nor  at  rest ; 
In  bright  uncertainty  they  lie, 
Like  future  joys  to  Fancy's  eye. 
The  water-lily  to  the  light 
Her  chalice  reared  of  silver  bright ; 
The  doe  awoke,  and  to  the  lawn, 
Begemmed  with  dew-drops,  led  her  fawn ; 
The  grey  mist  left  the  mountain  side, 
The  torrent  showed  its  glistening  pride ; 
Invisible  in  necked  sky, 
The  lark  sent  down  her  revelry  ; 
The  blackbird  and  the  speckled  thrush  . 
Good-morrow  gave  from  brake  and  bush ; 
In  answer  coo'd  the  cushat  dove 
Her  notes  of  peace,  and  rest,  and  love." 

Such  a  scene,  at  such  an  hour,  must  often  have  passed  unheeded 
before  the  eyes  of  the  wild  Macgregors  as  they  drove  the  herds  of 
their  Lowland  neighbours  through  Beal-nam-bo  to  their  fastness  on 
Loch  Katrine.  Rob  Roy  himself,  who  may  be  called  the  last  of  the 
caterans,  had  his  headquarters  not  far  off.  For  this  was  the 
Macgregor's  country,  and  here  they  were  more  than  once  almost 
exterminated ;  yet  somehow  the  clan,  after  repeated  proscriptions, 
has  managed  to  survive,  and  to  be  pretty  numerous  still.  A  ter- 
rible clan-battle  was  that  between  the  Macgregors  and  Colquhouns, 
which  took  place  in  this  district,  at  Grlenfruin,  early  in  the  seven- 


70  Loch  Katrine. 


teenth  century,  and  resulted  indirectly  in  the  temporary  ruin  of 
the  Macgregors,  although  they  were  victorious  in  the  fight  itself. 
Some  of  the  authorities  attribute  to  them  the  murder  of  the  chief 
of  Luss  after  the  battle  in  cold  blood,  while  others  say  that  it  was 
perpetrated  at  a  later  period,  and  by  the  Macfarlanes.  At  Glen- 
fruin,  however,  two  hundred  of  the  Colquhouns  were  left  dead  on 
the  field,  while  only  two  of  the  Macgregors  were  slain.  Scott  says 
(Notes  to  the  Lady  of  the  Lake) : — 

"The  consequences  of  the  battle  of  Glenfruin  were  very 
calamitous  to  the  family  of  Macgregor,  who  had  already  been  con- 
sidered as  an  unruly  clan.  The  widows  of  the  slain  Colquhouns — 
sixty,  it  is  said,  in  number — appeared  in  doleful  procession  before 
the  king  at  Stirling,  each  riding  upon  a  white  palfrey,  and  bearing 
in  her  hand  the  bloody  shirt  of  her  husband  displayed  upon  a  pike. 
James  VI.  was  so  much  moved  by  the  complaints  of  this  '  choir  of 
mourning  dames/  that  he  let  loose  his  vengeance  against  the 
Macgregors,  without  either  bounds  or  moderation.  The  very  name 
of  the  clan  was  proscribed,  and  those  by  whom  it  had  been  borne 
were  given  up  to  sword  and  fire,  and  absolutely  hunted  down  by 
bloodhounds  like  wild  beasts.  Argyle  and  the  Campbells  on  the 
one  hand,  Montrose,  with  the  Grahames  and  Buchanans,  on  the 
other,  are  said  to  have  been  the  chief  instruments  in  suppressing 
this  devoted  clan.  The  Laird  of  Macgregor  surrendered  to  the 
former,  on  condition  that  he  would  take  him  out  of  Scottish 
ground.  But,  to  use  Birrel's  expression,  he  kept  'a  Highland- 
man's  promise ;'  and,  although  he  fulfilled  his  word  to  the  letter, 
by  carrying  him  as  far  as  Berwick,  he  afterwards  brought  him  back 
to  Edinburgh,  where  he  was  executed  with  eighteen  of  his  clan. 


Loch  Katrine.  71 


(Birrel's  Diary,  2nd  Oct.,  1603.)  The  clan  Gregor  being  thus 
driven  to  utter  despair,  seem  to  have  renounced  the  laws  from  the 
benefit  of  which  they  were  excluded,  and  their  depredations  pro- 
duced new  Acts  of  Council,  confirming  the  severity  of  their  pro- 
scription, which  had  only  the  effect  of  rendering  them  still  more 
united  and  desperate.  It  is  a  most  extraordinary  proof  of  the 
ardent  and  invincible  spirit  of  clanship,  that,  notwithstanding  the 
repeated  proscriptions  providently  ordained  by  the  legislature, 
'  for  the  timeous  preventing  the  disorders  and  oppression  that 
may  fall  out  by  the  said  name  and  clan  of  Macgregors,  and  their 
followers,'  they  were  in  1715  and  1745  a  potent  clan,  and  con- 
tinue to  subsist  as  a  distinct  and  numerous  race." 

The  part  which  they  played  in  these  later  transactions  and 
others  form  the  subjects  of  at  least  two  other  romances  by  Scott, 
who  seems  to  have  had  a  peculiar  interest  in  the  history  of  these 
"  Children  of  the.  Mist,"  as  they  were  called.  After  existing  for 
centuries  in  a  chronic  state  of  rebellion,  and  after  repeated  Acts  of 
Parliament  had  been  passed  forbidding  them  even  to  use  their 
ancient  surname,  the  dawn  of  a  more  civilised  age  found  them  still 
numerous,  though  dispersed;  and  in  1822  the  penal  enactments 
were  finally  removed.  On  the  passing  of  the  relaxation  and  the 
reversal  of  the  outlawry,  no  fewer  than  eight  hundred  and  twenty- 
six  persons  were  found  anxious  to  resume  their  patronymic ;  and 
by  a  solemn  deed,  which  they  all  subscribed,  to  acknowledge  Sir 
John  Murray,  Bart.,  as  the  chief  of  the  clan.  He  thereupon 
assumed  the  name  which  had  belonged  to  his  ancestors,  by  Royal 
licence,  and  was  formally  admitted  to  all  the  barren  honours  of  the 
chieftainship. 


1N  Loch  Awe  we  are  in  the  heart  of  the  Campbell's 
country.  For  a  hundred  miles  the  lands  of  Breadalbane 
stretch,  from  Rannoch  to  the  sea  ;  then  Argyll  takes  up 
the  tale,  and  continues  it  away  into  the  Islands.  Before  the 
Campbells  came,  these  were  the  fastnesses  of  many  wild,  but 
scarcely  wilder  tribes.  The  Macgregors  and  the  Macdougals  made 
the  saying,  "  It's  a  far  cry  to  Loch  Awe,"  something  more  than  a 
mere  geographical  expression.  When  the  Lowlander's  herd  was 
once  safe  over  the  mountains,  he  might  never  hope  to  see  it  again. 
The  robbers  went  unpunished,  and  remained  hidden  till  another 
opportunity  occurred  for  a  raid  on  their  richer  neighbours.  All 
this  is  now  changed.  There  are  still  Macdougals  and  Macgregors 
as  well  as  Campbells  by  the  banks  of  Loch  Awe.  They  may  say, 
in  the  words  of  Scott, 

"  Glen  Orchy's  proud  mountains,  Caolchuirn  and  her  towers, 
Glen  Strae  and  Glen  Lyon  no  longer  are  ours." 

But  they  are  not  wholly  landless,  and  the  representative  in  the 
male  line  of  the  ancient  Lords  of  Lorn  is  still  in  the  neighbour- 
hood. As  to  the  robbery  of  Southerns,  it  is  carried  on  under 
legalised  forms.  The  Highlander  now  puts  his  demands  upon 
paper ;  but,  instead  of  fleeing  to  Loch  Awe,  he  is  able  to  attract 


Kilchurn  Castle.  75 


the  Lowlander  to  visit  him  among  his  mountains,  and  to  prove 
how  far  a  cry  it  is  by  personal  experience. 

Loch  Awe  and  Ben  Cruachan  figured  in  history  before  Kilchurn 
was  built.  Sir  Walter  Scott  alludes  to  the  story  of  Bruce's  ex- 
pedition to  Argyleshire  in  his  Highland  Widow;  but  the  following 
account  occurs  in  the  Notes  to  the  Lord  of  the  Isles : — 

"  The  Lord  of  Lorn,  who  flourished  during  the  wars  of  Bruce, 
was  All  aster  (or  Alexander)  Macdougal,  called  Allaster  of  Argyle. 
He  had  married  the  third  daughter  of  John,  called  the  Ked 
Comyn,  who  was  slain  by  Bruce  in  the  Dominican  Church  at 
Dumfries ;  and  hence  he  was  a  mortal  enemy  of  that  prince,  and 
more  than  once  reduced  him  to  great  straits  during  the  early  and 
distressed  period  of  his  reign,  as  we  shall  have  repeated  occasion  to 
notice.  Bruce,  when  he  began  to  obtain  an  ascendancy  in  Scot- 
land, took  the  first  opportunity  in  his  power  to  requite  these 
injuries.  He  marched  into  Argyleshire  to  lay  waste  the  country. 
John  of  Lorn,  son  of  the  chieftain,  was  posted  with  his  followers 
in  the  formidable  pass  between  Dalmally  and  Bunawe.  It  is  a 
narrow  path  along  the  verge  of  the  huge  and  precipitous  mountain 
called  Cruachan-Ben,  and  guarded  on  the  other  side  by  a  precipice 
overhanging  Loch  Awe.  The  pass  seems  to  the  eye  of  a  soldier  as 
strong,  as  it  is  wild  and  romantic  to  that  of  an  ordinary  traveller. 
But  the  skill  of  Bruce  had  anticipated  this  difficulty.  While  his 
main  body,  engaged  in  a  skirmish  with  the  men  of  Lorn,  detained 
their  attention  to  the  front  of  their  position,  James  of  Douglas,  with 
Sir  Alexander  Fraser,  Sir  William  Wiseman,  and  Sir  Andrew  Grey, 
ascended  the  mountain  with  a  select  body  of  archery,  a'nd  obtained 
possession  of  the  heights  which  commanded  the  pass.  A  volley  of 


76  Kilchurn  Castle. 


arrows  descending  upon  them  directly  warned  the  Argyleshire  men 
of  their  perilous  situation ;  and  their  resistance,  which  had  hitherto 
been  bold  and  manly,  was  changed  into  a  precipitate  flight.  The 
deep  and  rapid  river  of  Awe  was  then  (we  learn  the  fact  from 
Barbour  with  some  surprise)  crossed  by  a  bridge.  This  bridge  the 
mountaineers  attempted  to  demolish,  but  Bruce's  followers  were  too 
close  upon  their  rear ;  they  were  therefore  without  refuge  and 
defence,  and  were  dispersed  with  great  slaughter.  John  of  Lorn, 
suspicious  of  the  event,  had  early  betaken  himself  to  the  galleys 
which  he  had  upon  the  lake ;  but  the  feelings  which  Barbour 
assigns  to  him,  while  witnessing  the  rout  and  slaughter  of  his  fol- 
lowers, exculpate  him  from  the  charge  of  cowardice. 

'  To  Jhone  off  Lome  it  suld  displese 
I  trow,  quhen  he  his  men  mycht  se, 
Owte  off  his  schippis  fra  the  se, 
Be  slayne  and  chassyt  in  the  hill, 
That  he  mycht  set  na  help  thar  till. 
Bot  it  angrys  als  gretumly, 
To  gud  hartis  that  are  worthi, 
To  se  thar  fayis  fulfill  thair  will 
As  to  thaim  selff  to  thole  the  ill.' 

B.  VIL,  v.  394. 

After  this  decisive  engagement,  Bruce  laid  waste  Argyleshire,  and 
besieged  Dunstaffnage  Castle,  on  the  western  shore  of  Lorn,  com- 
pelled it  to  surrender,  and  placed  in  the  principal  stronghold  of 
the  Macdougals  a  garrison  and  governor  of  his  own.  The  elder 
Macdougal,  now  wearied  with  the  contest,  submitted  to  the 
victor;  but  his  son,  'rebellious,'  says  Barbour,  'as  he  wont  to 
be,'  fled  to  England  by  sea.  When  the  wars  between  the  Bruce 
and  Baliol  factions  again  broke  out  in  the  reign  of  David  II.,  the 


Kilchurn  Castle.  77 


Lords  of  Lorn  were  again  found  upon  the  losing  side,  owing  to 
their  hereditary  enmity  to  the  house  of  Bruce.  Accordingly,  upon 
the  issue  of  that  contest,  they  were  deprived  by  David  II.  and  his 
successor  of  by  far  the  greater  part  of  their  extensive  territories, 
which  were  conferred  upon  Stewart,  called  the  Knight  of  Lorn." 
In  another  passage  of  the  same  book,  Scott  further  writes  : — 
"  Kobert  Bruce,  after  his  defeat  at  Methven,  being  hard  pressed 
by  the  English,  endeavoured,  with  the  dispirited  remnant  of  his 
followers,  to  escape  from  Breadalbane  and  the  mountains  of  Perth- 
shire into  the  Argyleshire  Highlands.  But  he  was  encountered 
and  repulsed,  after  a  very  severe  engagement,  by  the  Lord  of  Lorn. 
Bruce's  personal  strength  and  courage  were  never  displayed  to 
greater  advantage  than  in  this  conflict.  There  is  a  tradition  in  the 
family  of  the  Macdougals  of  Lorn,  that  their  chieftain  engaged  in 
personal  battle  with  Bruce  himself,  while  the  latter  was  employed 
in  protecting  the  retreat  of  his  men ;  that  Macdougal  was  struck 
down  by  the  king,  whose  strength  of  body  was  equal  to  his  vigour 
of  mind,  and  would  have  been  slain  on  the  spot,  had  not  two  of 
Lorn's  vassals,  a  father  and  son,  whom ,  tradition  terms  Mackeoch, 
rescued  him,  by  seizing  the  mantle  of  the  monarch,  and  dragging 
him  from  above  his  adversary.  Bruce  rid  himself  of  these  foes  by 
two  blows  of  his  redoubted  battle-axe,  but  was  so  closely  pressed 
by  the  other  followers  of  Lorn,  that  he  was  forced  to  abandon  the 
mantle,  and  brooch  which  fastened  it,  clasped  in  the  dying  grasp 
t>f  the  Mackeochs.  A  studded  brooch,  said  to  have  been  that 
which  King  Robert  lost  upon  this  occasion,  was  long  preserved  in 
the  family  of  Macdougal,  and  was  lost  in  a  fire  which  consumed 
their  temporary  residence." 


78 


Kilchnrn  Castle. 


Bruce  died  in  1329,  and  in  1440,  during  the  reign  of  his 
descendant,  James  II.,  the  earliest  portion  of  the  existing  remains 
of  Kilchurn  Castle  was  built  by  Sir  Duncan  Campbell. 

It  stands  on  a  space  of  level  land  close  to  the  lake,  and  consists, 
besides  the  main  building,  of  northern  and  southern  wings,  added 
as  late  as  1615.  It  is  well  described  in  a  charming  volume — the 
Painter's  Camp — by  the  accomplished  Philip  Gilbert  Hamerton, 
from  which  we  borrow  the  accompanying  illustration. 


He  says  (p.  171) : — "One  bright  evening,  late  in  September,  I 
set  out,  after  dinner,  for  Kilchurn,  to  get  a  series  of  observations  on 
moonlight  colour ;  for  I  had  studied  Kilchurn  closely  enough  to  re- 


Kile  hum  Castle.  79 

member  the  ordinary  daylight  colour  of  every  part  of  it.  .  .  When 
we  got  to  Kilchurn,  and  had  safely  passed  the  bar  at  the  entrance 
to  the  bay,  we  floated  quietly  out  into  the  midst,  and  Kilchurn 
stood  before  us  in  the  full  mellow  light  of  the  moon.  .  .  The 
old  castle,  like  most  old  buildings,  has  been  ruined  by  man,  not  by 
time.  Henry  the  Eighth,  Oliver  Cromwell,  blundering  stewards, 
and  apathetic  proprietors,  are  the  real  authors  of  most  of  the  ruins 
in  Britain.  "With  a  little  friendly  care  and  attention  a  strong 
building  will  last  a  thousand  years,  but  a  fool  will  demolish  it  in  a 
day.  Kilchurn  is  a  ruin,  merely  because  an  economical  steward 
thought  the  roof  timber  would  come  in  very  well  for  the  new 
castle  at  Taymouth,  and  so  carried  it  thither.  But  he  had 
omitted  to  measure  the  beams,  which  turned  out  to  be  too 
short,  and  therefore,  of  course,  useless.  Then  when  the  roof  was 
off,  the  old  castle  became  a  general  stone  quarry,  and  furnished 
stones  ready  cut  to  all  the  farmers  who  chose  to  steal  them.  And 
the  new  inn  at  Dalmally,  and  the  queer  little  sham  Gothic  church 
over  the  bridge,  being  erected  some  time  afterwards,  the  now 
ruined  castle  furnished  hewn  stones  to  both  those  edifices.  There 
is  not  a  fragment  of  wood  in  all  Kilchurn ;  there  is  not  one  step 
left  there  of  all  its  winding  stairs.  Yet  in  the  '45,  the  building 
was  garrisoned  against  the  Prince ;  and  in  the  latter  end  of  the 
last  century  there  were  tapestry  on  the  walls  and  wine  in  the 
cellar,  and  a  casque  and  shirt  of  mail  still  hung  on  the  walls  of  the 
armoury.  Alone  with  these  relics  lingered  one  old  servant  as 
housekeeper.  She  was  the  last  inhabitant.  Some  domestics  might 
have  objected  to  the  situation.  Fancy  a  London  housekeeper  shut 
up  alone  in  a  great  ghostly  feudal  castle  on  a  narrow  island  rock, 


80  Kilchurn  Castle. 


with  waves  roaring  round  it  in  the  long  northern  winter  nights,  and 
the  sobbing  wind  flapping  the  figured  tapestry,  and  rattling  the 
armour  in  the  armoury." 

Mr.  Hamerton  has  spent  much  time  at  Loch  Awe,  and  is,  as  a 
descriptive  writer  of  the  first  class,  the  best  guide  to  its  beauties. 
He  has  not  been  content  to  celebrate  its  charms  in  prose  alone. 
The  Isles  of  Loch  Awe  is  a  volume  full  of  poetical  beauty  and 
power,  and  a  charming  pocket  companion  in  this  part  of  the  High- 
lands. We  must  return  to  it  presently  for  a  legend  of  the  place, 
but  pause  meanwhile  at  the  name  of  one  whom  Mr.  Hamerton  will 
allow  us  to  call  a  greater  poet.  Wordsworth  visited  Scotland  in 
1803  and  1814,  and  a  third  time  in  1833.  The  record  of  his 
journeys  has  lately  been  published,  and  we  venture  to  quote  the 
following  passage,  adding  in  full  the  poem  of  which  the  first  three 
lines  only  are  given  in  Miss  Wordsworth's  Journal  (p.  139): — 

"  When  we  had  ascended  half-way  up  the  hill,  directed  by  the 
man,  I  took  a  nearer  footpath,  and  at  the  top  came  in  view  of  a 
most  impressive  scene — a  ruined  castle  on  an  island  almost  in  the 
middle  of  the  last  compartment  of  the  lake,  backed  by  a  mountain 
cove,  down  which  came  a  roaring  stream.  The  castle  occupied 
every  foot  of  the  island  that  was  visible  to  us,  appearing  to  rise  out 
of  the  water ;  mists  rested  upon  the  mountain  side,  with  spots  of 
sunshine  between ;  there  was  a  mild  desolation  in  the  low  grounds, 
a  solemn  grandeur  in  the  mountains,  and  the  castle  was  wild,  yet 
stately — not  dismantled  of  its  turrets,  nor  the  walls  broken  down, 
though  completely  in  ruin.  After  having  stood  some  minutes,  I 
joined  William  on  the  high  road  ;  and  both  wishing  to  stay  longer 
near  this  place,  we  requested  the  man  to  drive  his  little  boy  on  to 


Kilchurn  Castle.  81 


Dalmally,  about  two  miles  further,  and  leave  the  car  at  the  inn. 
He  told  us  that  the  ruin  was  called  Kilchurn  Castle ;  that  it 
belonged  to  Lord  Breadalbane,  and  had  been  built  by  one  of  the 
ladies  of  that  family  for  her  defence  during  her  lord's  absence  at 
the  Crusades,  for  which  purpose  she  levied  a  tax  of  seven  years' 
rent  upon  her  tenants  :  *  he  said  that  from  that  side  of  the  lake  it 
did  not  appear,  in  very  dry  weather,  to  stand  upon  an  island  ;  but 
that  it  was  possible  to  go  over  to  it  without  being  wet-shod. 
We  were  very  lucky  in  seeing  it  after  a  great  flood ;  for  its  enchant- 
ing effect  was  chiefly  owing  to  its  situation  in  the  lake — a  decayed 
palace  rising  out  of  the  plain  of  waters  I  I  have  called  it  a  palace, 
for  such  feeling  it  gave  to  me,  though  having  been  built  as  a  place 
of  defence — a  castle,  or  fortress.  We  turned  again  and  re-ascended 
the  hill,  and  sate  a  long  time  in  the  middle  of  it,  looking  on  the 
castle  and  the  huge  mountain  cove  opposite ;  and  William,  address- 
ing himself  to  the  ruin,  poured  out  these  verses : — 

"  Child  of  loud-throated  War !  the  mountain  Stream 
Roars  in  thy  hearing ;  but  thy  hour  of  rest 
Is  come,  and  thou  art  silent  in  thy  age ; 
Save  when  the  wind  sweeps  by  and  sounds  are  caught 
Ambiguous,  neither  wholly  thine  nor  theirs. 
Oh !  there  is  life  that  breathes  not ;  Powers  there  are 
That  touch  each  other  to  the  quick  in  modes 
Which  the  gross  world  no  sense  hath  to  perceive, 
No  soul  to  dream  of.     What  art  thou,  from  care 
Cast  off — abandoned  by  thy  rugged  Sire, 
Nor  by  soft  Peace  adopted ;  though,  in  place 
And  in  dimension,  such  that  thou  might'st  seem 
But  a  mere  footstool  to  yon  sovereign  Lord, 

*  Not  very  probable. 


r 

82  -Kilc/mnt  Castle. 


Huge  Cruachan  (a  thing  that  meaner  hills 
Might  crush,  nor  know  that  it  had  suffered  harm) ; 
Yet  he,  not  loth,  in  favour  of  thy  claims 
To  reverence,  suspends  his  own ;  submitting 
All  that  the  God  of  Nature  hath  conferred, 
All  that  he  holds  in  common  with  the  stars, 
To  the  memorial  majesty  of  Time 
Impersonated  in  thy  calm  decay ! 

Take,  then,  thy  seat,  Vicegerent  unreproved ! 

Now,  while  a  farewell  gleam  of  evening  light 

Is  fondly  lingering  on  thy  shattered  front, 

Do  thou,  in  turn,  be  paramount ;  and  rule 

Over  the  pomp  and  beauty  of  a  scene 

Whose  mountains,  torrents,  lake,  and  woods  unite 

To  pay  thee  homage ;  and  with  these  are  joined, 

In  willing  admiration  and  respect, 

Two  Hearts,  which  in  thy  presence  might  be  called 

Youthful  as  Spring. — Shade  of  departed  Power, 

Skeleton  of  unfleshed  humanity, 

The  chronicle  were  welcome  that  should  call 

Into  the  compass  of  distinct  regard 

The  toils  and  struggles  of  thy  infant  years ! 

Yon  foaming  flood  seems  motionless  as  ice ; 

Its  dizzy  turbulence  eludes  the  eye, 

Frozen  by  distance  ;  so,  majestic  Pile, 

To  the  perception  of  this  Age,  appear 

Thy  fierce  beginnings,  softened  and  subdued 

And  quieted  in  character — the  strife, 

The  pride,  the  fury  uncontrollable, 

Lost  on  the  aerial  heights  of  the  Crusades  !" 

This  last  line  refers  to  a  legend  which  Mr.  Hamerton  has  made 
the  subject  of  a  poem  on  Kilchurn.  We  venture  to  quote  a  few 
lines,  but  our  readers  must  look  for  the  complete  story,  of  which 


Kilchurn  Castle.  83 

this   is   the   commencement,   in   the   book   itself   (p.    39).       Mr. 
Hamerton  says  : — 

"  Sir  Colin  Campbell  was  a  knight  of  Khodes. 
For  seven  years  lie  risked  continually 
His  life  in  foreign  warfare.     Seven  years 
Waited  the  Lady  Margaret,  his  wife, 
Like  a  poor  widow,  living  sparingly, 
And  saving  all  the  produce  of  his  lands 
To  build  an  island  fortress  on  Loch  Awe, 
There  to  receive  Sir  Colin,  and  so  prove 
Her  thrift  and  duty.     Little  more  we  know 
Of  what  she  did  to  occupy  her  time  : 
Perhaps  a  narrow  but  perpetual  round    • 
Of  mean  and  servile  duties,  too  obscure 
To  be  recorded,  kept  her  nerves  in  health. 
And  truly  it  is  well  to  handle  life 
Not  daintily.     The  best  resource  in  grief 
Is  downright  labour.     This  at  least  we  know, 
That  the  good  spouse  of  that  brave  Highland  chief 
Looked  to  her  husband's  interest  and  hers, 
When  from  her  quarries  silently — before 
Loud  blasting  tore  the  layers  of  the  rock — 
The  clansmen  ferried  loads  of  idle  stones 
Across  the  water ;  and  on  what  was  then 
An  island,  and  is  yet  in  winter  floods, 
Made  them  most  useful  servants — trusty  guards 
Of  all  the  treasure  of  a  Highland  chief — 
His  wife,  his  tail,  his  cattle,  and  his  goods." 

Scott  has  not  unfrequently  made  passing  allusions  to  Loch 
Awe  ;  but  Kilchurn  figures  under  another  name  in  his  Legend  of 
Montrose.  As  Mr.  Hamerton  says  :-— 

"  This  is  Sir  Walter's  pile  of  Ardenvohr, 
Changed  since  Dalgetty  criticised  its  strength." 


84  Kile  hum  Castle. 


The  whole  scene  is  too  amusing,  and  has  become  too  famous  now 
to  be  omitted  here ;  but  the  judicious  reader  may  perceive  that  it 
will  not  exactly  fit  in  all  particulars  what  even  in  its  ruins  Kilchurn 
professed  to  be.  Sir  Walter  rather  magnifies  it : — 

" '  This  house  of  yours,  now,  Sir  Duncan,  is  a  very  pretty  defen- 
sible sort  of  a  tenement,  and  yet  it  is  hardly  such  as  a  cavaliero  of 
honour  would  expect  to  maintain  his  credit  by  holding  out  for 
many  days.  For,  Sir  Duncan,  if  it  pleases  you  to  notice,  your 
house  is  overcrowed,  and  slighted,  or  commanded,  as  we  military 
men  say,  by  yonder  round  hillock  to  the  landward,  whereon  an 
enemy  might  stell  such  a  battery  of  cannon  as  would  make  ye  glad 
to  beat  a  chamade  within  forty- eight  hours,  unless  it  pleased  the 
Lord  extraordinarily  to  shew  mercy.' 

" '  There  is  no  road,'  replied  Sir  Duncan,  somewhat  shortly, 
'by  which  cannon  can  be  brought  against  Ardenvohr.  The 
swamps  and  morasses  around  my  house  would  scarce  carry  your 
horse  and  yourself,  excepting  by  such  paths  as  could  be  rendered 
impassable  within  a  few  hours/ 

" '  Sir  Duncan/  said  the  Captain,  '  it  is  your  pleasure  to 
suppose  so ;  and  yet  we  martial  men  say,  that  where  there  is  a 
sea-coast  there  is  always  a  naked  side,  seeing  that  cannon  and 
munition,  where  they  cannot  be  transported  by  land,  may  be  right 
easily  brought  by  sea  near  to  the  place  where  they  are  to  be  put  in 
action.  Neither  is  a  castle,  however  secure  in  its  situation,  to  be 
accounted  altogether  invincible,  or,  as  they  say,  impregnable ;  for 
I  protest  t'ye,  Sir  Duncan,  that  I  have  known  twenty-five  men,  by 
the  mere  surprise  and  audacity  of  the  attack,  win,  at  point  of 
pike,  as  strong  a  hold  as  this  of  Ardenvohr,  and  put  to  the  sword, 


Kilchurn  Castle.  85 


captivate,  or  hold  to  the  ransom,  the  defenders,  being  ten  times 
their  own  number.' 

"  Notwithstanding  Sir  Duncan  Campbell's  knowledge  of  the 
world,  and  his  power  of  concealing  his  internal  emotion,  he 
appeared  piqued  and  hurt  at  these  reflections,  which  the  Captain 
made  with  the  most  unconscious  gravity,  having  merely  selected 
the  subject  of  conversation  as  one  upon  which  he  thought  himself 
capable  of  shining,  and,  as  they  say,  of  laying  down  the  law, 
without  exactly  recollecting  that  the  topic  might  not  be  equally 
agreeable  to  his  landlord. 

"  '  To  cut  this  matter  short,'  said  Sir  Duncan,  with  an  expression 
of  voice  and  countenance  somewhat  agitated,  *  it  is  unnecessary  for 
you  to  tell  me,  Captain  Dalgetty,  that  a  castle  may  be  stormed  if 
it  is  not  valorously  defended,  or  surprised  if  it  is  not  needfully 
watched.  I  trust  this  poor  house  of  mine  will  not  be  found  in  any 
of  these  predicaments,  should  even  Captain  Dalgetty  himself  choose 
to  beleaguer  it.' 

" '  For  all  that,  Sir  Duncan,'  answered  the  persevering  com- 
mander, '  I  would  premonish  you,  as  a  friend,  to  trace  out  a  sconce 
upon  that  round  hill,  with  a  good  graffe,  or  ditch,  whilk  may  be 
easily  accomplished  by  compelling  the  labour  of  the  boors  in  the 
vicinity ;  it  being  the  custom  of  the  valorous  Gustavus  Adolphus 
to  fight  as  much  by  the  spade  and  shovel,  as  by  sword,  pike,  and 
musket.  Also,  I  would  advise  you  to  fortify  the  said  sconce,  not 
only  by  a  foussie,  or  graffe,  but  also  by  certain  stackets,  or 
palisades.' — (Here  Sir  Duncan,  becoming  impatient,  left  the  apart- 
ment, the  Captain  following  him  to  the  door,  and  raising  his  voice 
as  he  retreated,  until  he  was  fairly  out  of  hearing.) — '  The  whilk 


86  Kile  hum  Castle. 


stackets,  or  palisades,  should  be  artificially  framed  with  re-entering 
angles  and  loopholes,  or  crenelles,  for  musketry,  whereof  it  shall 
arise  that  the  foemen The  Highland  brute  I  the  old  High- 
land brute !  They  are  as  proud  as  peacocks,  and  as  obstinate  as 
tups,  and  here  he  has  missed  an  opportunity  of  making  his  house 
as  pretty  an  irregular  fortification  as  an  invading  army  ever  broke 
their  teeth  upon.  But  I  see,'  he  continued,  looking  down  from  the 
window  upon  the  bottom  of  the  precipice,  c  they  have  got  Gustavus 
safe  ashore.  Proper  fellow  1  I  would  know  that  toss  of  his  head 
among  a  whole  squadron.  I  must  go  to  see  what  they  are  to 
make  of  him.' 

•  .  .  .  «  •  . 

"  He  had  no  sooner  reached,  however,  the  court  to  the  seaward, 
and  put  himself  in  the  act  of  descending  the  staircase,  than  two 
Highland  sentinels,  advancing  their  Lochaber  axes,  gave  him  to 
understand  that  this  was  a  service  of  danger. 

" '  Diavolo,'  said  the  soldier,  '  and  I  have  got  no  pass-word.  I 
could  not  speak  a  syllable  of  their  salvage  gibberish,  an'  it  were  to 
save  me  from  the  provost-marshal.' 

"  *  I  will  be  your  surety,  Captain  Dalgetty,'  said  Sir  Duncan, 
who  had  again  approached  him  without  his  observing  from 
whence ;  '  and  we  will  go  together,  and  see  how  your  favourite 
charger  is  accommodated.' 

"He  conducted  him  accordingly  down  the  staircase  to  the 
beach,  and  from  thence  by  a  short  turn  behind  a  large  rock,  which 
concealed  the  stables  and  other  offices  belonging  to  the  castle. 
Captain  Dalgetty  became  sensible,  at  the  same  time,  that  the  side 
of  the  castle  to  the  land  was  rendered  totally  inaccessible  by  a 


Kilchurn  Castle.  87 


ravine,  partly  natural  and  partly  scarped  with  great  care  and 
labour,  so  as  to  be  only  passed  by  a  drawbridge.  Still,  however, 
the  Captain  insisted,  notwithstanding  the  triumphant  air  with 
which  Sir  Duncan  pointed  out  his  defences,  that  a  sconce  should 
be  erected  on  Drumsnab,  the  round  eminence  to  the  east  of  the 
castle,  in  respect  the  house  might  be  annoyed  from  thence  by  burn- 
ing bullets  full  of  fire,  shot  out  of  cannon,  according  to  the  curious 
invention  of  Stephen  Bathian,  King  of  Poland,  whereby  that  Prince 
utterly  ruined  the  great  Muscovite  city  of  Moscow.  This  inven- 
tion, Captain  Dalgetty  owned,  he  had  not  yet  witnessed ;  but 
observed  '  that  it  would  give  him  particular  delectation  to  witness 
the  same  put  to  the  proof  against  Ardenvohr,  or  any  other  castle 
of  similar  strength;'  observing,  'that  so  curious  an  experiment 
could  not  but  afford  the  greatest  delight  to  all  admirers  of  the 
military  art.' " 

The  point  of  view  chosen  by  our  artist  is  on  the  eastern  shore 
of  the  loch,  looking  towards  Ben  Loy,  which  raises  its  tall  head 
beyond  and  above  the  castle.  Dalmally,  the  usual  resting-place  of 
tourists,  is  about  half-way  between  the  castle  and  the  mountain, 
and  from  it,  as  a  base  of  operations,  the  ascent  of  Ben  Cruachan  is 
most  easily  made.  There  are  few  such  views  in  Scotland  as  that 
to  be  had  on  a  clear  day  from  the  summit.  Although  some  six  or 
seven  hundred  feet  lower  than  Ben  Nevis,  the  situation  of  Ben 
Cruachan  affords  a  nearer  sight  of  the  beautiful  islands  of  the 
west,  the  bay  of  Oban,  and  even — beyond  "  the  sandy  Coll "  and 
the  "wild  Tiree" — the  distant  hills  of  Rum  and  Skye.  To  the 
north  and  east,  Loch  Etive  and  Glencoe,  Glen  Strae  and  Glen 
Orchy,  seem  just  beneath  our  feet ;  while  farther  into  the  blue 


88  Kile  hum  Castle. 


distance  all  the  mountains  of  the  Scottish  Highlands  roll  wave 
after  wave  of  solid  rock  towards  the  German  Ocean.  Again  we 
have  recourse  to  Scott  for  the  expression  of  feelings  almost  unutter- 
able in  the  presence  of  such  scenes  :— 

"  Stranger !  if  e'er  thine  ardent  step  hath  traced 
The  northern  realms  of  ancient  Caledon, 
Where  the  proud  Queen  of  Wilderness  hath  placed, 
By  lake  and  cataract,  her  lonely  throne ; 
Sublime  but  sad  delight  thy  soul  hath  known, 
Gazing  on  pathless  glen  and  mountain  high, 
lasting  where  from  the  cliffs  the  torrents  thrown 
Mingle  their  echoes  with  the  eagle's  cry, 
And  with  the  sounding  lake,  and  with  the  moaning  sky. 

"  Yes !  'twas  sublime,  but  sad.     The  loneliness 

Loaded  thy  heart,  the  desert  tired  thine  eye  j 

And  strange  and  awful  fears  began  to  press 

Thy  bosom  with  a  stern  solemnity. 

Then  hast  thou  wished  some  woodman's  cottage  nigh, 

Something  that  showed  of  life,  though  low  and  mean ; 

Glad  sight,  its  curling  wreath  of  smoke  to  spy, 

Glad  sound,  its  cock's  blithe  carol  would  have  been, 
Or  children  whooping  wild  beneath  the  willows  green. 

"  Such  are  the  scenes,  where  savage  grandeur  wakes 
An  awful  thrill  that  softens  into  sighs  ; 
Such  feelings  rouse  them  by  dim  Rannoch's  lakes, 
In  dark  Glencoe  such  gloomy  raptures  rise  : 
Or  farther,  where,  beneath  the  northern  skies, 
Chides  wild  Loch-Eribol  his  caverns  hoar — 
But,  be  the  minstrel  judge,  they  yield  the  prize 
Of  desert  dignity  to  that  dread  shore, 
That  sees  grim  Coolin  rise,  and  hears  Coriskin  roar." 


HERE  is  always  a  feeling  of  disappointment  excited  by 
the  first  sight  of  a  place  of  which  we  have  heard  much. 
The  traveller  who  sets  out  from  Salisbury  for  Stone- 
henge,  and  ascends  the  long  succession  of  dusty  chalk  hills 
in  the  blinding  glare  of  the  summer  sun,  can  hardly  believe  his 
eyes  when,  slowly  toiling  up  one  more  "down,"  he  suddenly 
sees  the  object  of  all  his  trouble  on  the  grassy  slope  before  him. 
It  is  just  far  enough  from  the  road  not  to  look  great,  and  just  near 
enough  to  be  recognised  with  a  certainty  which  would  willingly 
think  itself  deceived.  The  case  is  the  same  with  remarkable  objects 
of  natural  scenery.  The  Giants'  Causeway,  for  example,  and  even 
Niagara,  do  not  strike  the  beholder  at  first  sight.  They  need  to 
be  examined,  to  be  measured,  to  be  compared,  mentally,  with  other 
objects,  before  their  vastness,  their  strangeness,  their  real  pre- 
eminence is  discerned. 

Of  no  place  in  the  whole  of  the  three  kingdoms  is  this  more 
true  than  of  Ben  Nevis.  The  tallest  mountain  in  England  is 
Scawfell,  with  its  three  thousand  one  hundred  and  sixty  feet,  but 
Ben  Nevis  is  more  than  a  thousand  feet  higher.  Snowdon  is  the 


92  Ben  Nevis. 

highest  peak  of  Wales,  but  Ben  Nevis  is  eight  hundred  feet 
higher.  Carrantuohill,  in  Kerry,  exceeds  all  other  Irish  hills, 
but  Ben  Nevis  is  nine  hundred  feet  higher.  Yet  it  may  safely  be 
asserted,  that  any  one  who  has  seen  them  all  would  have  thought, 
apart  from  ascertained  measurements,  that  Ben  Nevis  was  less  than 
the  least. 

Much  of  this  feeling  is  caused  by  the  absence  of  anything  like  a 
peak  or  point  to  mark  the  summit  Ben  Nevis  has  no  single  point, 
but  three  ridges  at  the  top  are  of  nearly  equal  height,  and  it  thus 
presents  a  rounded  aspect  to  the  spectator  below.  The  great  mass, 
and,  so  to  speak,  the  weight  of  the  whole  mountain  is  sufficiently 
grand  and  striking ;  but  this  is  a  thing  of  which  the  eye  alone  can 
hardly  judge.  When  the  traveller  wakens  up  the  morning  after  his 
arrival  at  Fort- William,  he  hastens  to  take  a  look  at  the  highest 
mountain  in  Great  Britain ;  but  it  is  not  by  its  height  that  he  is 
first  impressed.  It  is  massive,  great,  even  magnificent ;  but  com- 
pared with  Ben  Lomond,  or  Moel  Siabad,  far  from  beautiful. 
After  a  little  this  feeling  of  disappointment  subsides,  and  a  climb 
to  the  top  is  amply  rewarded  by  a  most  extensive  view  over  some 
of  the  loveliest  scenery  in  Scotland. 

Perhaps  the  best  account  of  Ben  Nevis  will  be  found  in  the 
Scenery  and  Geology  of  Scotland,  by  Mr.  Geikie,  of  Edinburgh. 
He  says  (p.  99)  : — 

"  If  one  would  grasp  at  once  the  leading  features  of  Highland 
scenery,  let  him  betake  himself  to  some  mountain-top  that 
stands  a  little  apart  from  its  neighbours,  and  looks  over  them 
into  the  wilds  beyond.  A  better  height  could  not  be  chosen  than 
the  summit  of  Ben  Nevis.  None  other  rises  more  majestically 


Ben  Nevis.  93 


above  the  surrounding  hills,  or  looks  over  a  wider  sweep  of  moun- 
tain and  moor,  glen  and  corry,  lake  and  firth,  far  away  to  the 
islands  that  lie  amid  the  western  sea.  In  no  other  place  is  the 
general  and  varied  character  of  the  Highlands  better  illustrated ; 
and  from  none  can  the  geologist,  whose  eye  is  open  to  the  changes 
wrought  by  sub-aerial  waste  on  the  surface  of  the  country,  gain  a 
more  vivid  insight  into  their  reality  and  magnitude.  To  this,  as  a 
typical  and  easily  accessible  locality,  I  shall  have  occasion  to  refer 
more  than  once.  Let  the  reader,  in  the  meantime,  imagine  himself 
sitting  by  the  side  of  the  grey  cairn  on  the  highest  peak  of  the 
British  Isles,  watching  the  shadows  of  an  autumnal  sky  stealing 
over  the  vast  sea  of  mountains  that  lies  spread  out  as  in  a  map 
around  him.  And  while  no  sound  falls  upon  his  ear,  save  now 
and  then  a  fitful  moaning  of  the  wind  among  the  snow-drifts  of 
the  dark  precipice  below,  let  him  try  to  analyse  some  of  the  chief 
elements  of  the  landscape.  It  is  easy  to  recognise  the  more  marked 
heights  and  hollows.  To  the  south,  away  down  Loch  Linnhe,  he 
can  see  the  hills  of  Mull  and  the  Paps  of  Jura  closing  in  the 
horizon.  Westwards,  Loch  Eil  seems  to  lie  at  his  feet,  winding  up 
into  the  lonely  mountains,  yet  filled  twice  a-day  with  the  tides  of 
the  salt  sea.  Far  over  the  hills,  beyond  the  head  of  the  loch,  he 
looks  across  Arisaig,  and  can  see  the  cliffs  of  the  Isle  of  Eigg,  and 
the  dark  peaks  of  Rum,  with  the  Atlantic  gleaming  below  them. 
Further  to  the  north-west  the  blue  line  of  the  Cuchullins  rises 
along  the  sky-line,  and  then,  sweeping  over  all  the  intermediate 
ground,  through  Arisaig  and  Knoydart  and  Clanranald's  country, 
mountain  rises  beyond  mountain,  ridge  beyond  ridge,  cut  through 
by  dark  glens,  and  varied  here  and  there  with  the  sheen  of  lake 


94  Ben  Nevis. 

and  tarn.  Northward  runs  the  mysterious  line  of  the  Great  Glen, 
with  its  chain  of  lochs.  Thence  to  east  and  south  the  same  billowy 
sea  of  mountain-tops  stretches  out  as  far  as  eye  can  follow  it — the 
hills  and  glens  of  Lochaber,  the  wide  green  strath  of  Spean,  the 
grey  corries  of  Glen  Trieg  and  Glen  Nevis,  the  distant  sweep  of 
the  moors  and  mountains  of  Brae  Lyon  and  the  Perthshire  High- 
lands, the  spires  of  Glen  Coe,  and  thence  round  again  to  the  blue 
waters  of  Loch  Linnhe. 

"In  musing  over  this  wide  panorama,  the  observer  cannot 
fail  to  note  that  while  there  are  everywhere  local  peculiarities 
in  the  outline  of  the  hills,  and  the  shapes  of  the  sides  of  the 
valleys,  there  is  yet  a  general  uniformity  of  contour  over  the 
whole.  What  seem  at  a  nearer  view  rough  craggy  peaks  and 
pinnacles,  seen  from  this  height  are  dwarfed  into  mere  minor 
irregularities  of  surface.  And  thus  over  the  whole  of  the  wide 
landscape  one  mountain-ridge  appears  after  another,  with  the 
same  large  features,  rising  and  sinking  from  glen  to  glen  with 
the  same  smoothed  summits,  broken  now  and  again  where  from 
some  hidden  valley  a  circular  corry  or  craggy  cliff  lifts  itself  bare 
to  the  sun." 

The  impossibility  of  mere  words  to  paint  a  landscape  has 
often  been  insisted  upon,  but  if  it  be  within  a  writer's  power 
to  make  a  view  visible  without  the  artist's  aid,  Mr.  Geikie 
has  contrived  to  accomplish  the  task.  The  same  descriptive 
pen  has  exercised  itself  in  an  account  of  the  ascent  of  Ben  Nevis 
(p.  116):- 

"  If  the  observer  be  sure  of  foot  and  steady  of  eye,  let  him 
ascend  that  mountain,  not  by  the  regular  track,  but  up  the  long 


Ben  Nevis.  95 


and  almost  equally  lofty  ridge  which  lies  to  the  east,  and  thence 
along  the  narrow  and  somewhat  perilous  '  col'  which  circles  round 
to  the  southern  front  of  the  great  Ben.  The  ascent  lies  first  among 
heathery  slopes,  channelled  with  brooks  of  clear  cold  water,  and 
roughened  with  grey,  worn,  and  weathered  hummocks  of  schist  and 
granite.  Blocks  of  granite  of  every  size  cumber  the  ground, 
standing  sometimes  on  rocky  knolls,  and  sometimes  half  buried  in 
morass.  That  the  frosts  of  many  a  century  have  been  busy  here, 
is  shown  by  the  countless  boulders  and  protruding  knobs  of  rock 
which  have  been  split  open  along  their  joints.  Slanting  up  the 
mountain,  the  observer  has  leisure  to  remark,  as  he  crosses 
streamlet  after  streamlet,  that  their  channels,  sometimes  cut 
deeply  into  the  solid  rock,  are  evidently  the  work  of  the  running 
water.  He  finds  them  grow  fewer  as  he  rises.  On  the  slopes,  too, 
the  boggy  peat  and  shaggy  heather  begin  to  give  way  to  long 
streams  of  angular  granite  blocks,  among  which  the  scanty  vegeta- 
tion is  at  last  reduced  to  mere  scattered  patches  of  short  grass  and 
moss,  with  here  and  there  a  little  Alpine  plant.  A  wilderness  of 
debris  now  covers  the  bald  scalp  of  the  mountain.  The  solid 
granite  itself  cannot  be  seen  through  the  depths  of  its  own 
accumulated  fragments ;  but  when  the  crest  of  the  height  is  gained, 
the  rock  is  found  peering  in  shattered  fragments  from  amidst  the 
ruin.  This  narrow  mountain-ridge  is  then  seen  to  rise  between 
two  profound  glens.  That  to  the  north-east  is  crowned  by  a 
rampart-like  range  of  pink-hued  granite  cliffs,  from  which  long 
courses  of  debris  descend  to  the  bottom.  The  glen  that  lies  far 
below  on  the  south-west  is  overhung  on  its  further  side  by  the  vast 
rugged  precipice  of  Ben  Nevis,  rising  some  fifteen  hundred  or  two 


96  Ben  Nevis. 

thousand  feet  above  the  stream  that  wanders  through  the  gloom  at 
its  base.  That  dark  wall  of  porphyry  can  now  be  seen  from  bottom 
to  top,  with  its  huge  masses  of  rifted  rock  standing  up  like  ample 
buttresses  into  the  light,  and  its  deep  recesses  and  clefts,  into 
which  the  summer  sun  never  reaches,  and  where  the  winter  snow 
never  melts.  ...  So  narrow  is  the  edge  of  the  ridge  in 
some  places,  that  a  single  block  of  granite  may  split  into  two 
parts,  of  which  one  would  roll  crashing  down  the  steep  slope 
into  the  valley  on  the  left  hand,  while  the  other  would  leap  to 
the  bottom  of  the  glen  on  the  right.  In  this  sharp  form  the 
ridge  divides,  one  arm  sweeping  round  the  head  of  the  glen  on  the 
north-east  side,  while  the  other  circles  westwards  to  the  shoulders 
of  Ben  Nevis." 

These  glens,  of  which  Mr.  Geikie  has  much  more  to  say,  afford 
another  point  of  interest  beyond  those  on  which  he  speaks  so 
eloquently.  The  snow  which  never  melts,  as  he  says  in  the  above 
passage,  is  the  subject  of  a  curious  local  usage.  Cameron  of  Glen 
Nevis  holds  his  lands  from  the  Crown  by  the  tenure  of  presenting, 
when  required,  a  snowball  to  the  Queen  at  midsummer,  or  at  any 
other  time  it  is  asked  for.  The  Camerons  muster  strongly  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Ben  Nevis.  Fassifern  and  Lochiel  are  both  close 
by — to  the  west,  and  near  them  is  the  monument  of  Prince  Charles, 
erected  to  commemorate  his  landing  in  1745,  when,  on  the  19th 
August,  his  standard  was  here  first  displayed  by  Tullibardine,  in 
the  presence  of  a  thousand  Highlanders,  chiefly  of  the  Cameron 
clan.  At  Kilmallie,  which  lies  close  to  Ben  Nevis,  but  across  the 
lake,  and  facing  Fort-William,  is  the  monument  of  Colonel  Cameron 
of  the  92nd  Highlanders,  who  was  killed  at  Quatre  Bras.  Though 


Ben  Nevis.  97 

the  epitaph  on  the  monument  was  written  by  Sir  Walter  Scott,  and 
though  the  hero's  father  was  made  a  baronet  in  consideration  of  his 
son's  great  services  and  death,  the  lines  of  Byron  will  form  a  more 
lasting  memorial  of  him,  and  one  better  known  to  English  readers. 
They  occur  in  Childe  Harold,  Canto  III.,  when,  having  alluded 
to  the  famous  ball  at  Brussels,  and  to  the  fall  of  "  Brunswick's  fated 
chieftain,"  he  goes  on : — 

"  And  wild  and  high,  the  '  Cameron's  gathering '  rose ! 
The  war-note  of  Lochiel,  which  Alhyn's  hills 
Have  heard,  and  heard,  too,  have  her  Saxon  foes  : — 
How  in  the  noon  of  night  that  pibroch  thrills, 
Savage  and  shrill !     But  with  the  breath  that  fills 
Their  mountain  pipe,  so  fill  the  mountaineers 
With  the  fierce  native  daring  which  instils 
The  stirring  memory  of  a  thousand  years — 
And  Evan's,  Donald's  fame  rings  in  each  clansman's  ears. 

"  And  Ardennes  waves  above  them  her  green  leaves, 
Dewy  with  Nature's  tear-drops  as  they  pass — 
Grieving,  if  aught  inanimate  e'er  grieves, 
Over  the  unreturning  brave — alas ! 
Ere  evening  to  be  trodden  like  the  grass 
Which  now  beneath  them,  but  above  shall  grow 
In  its  next  verdure,  when  this  fiery  mass 
Of  living  valour,  rolling  on  the  foe, 
And  burning  with  high  hope,  shall  moulder  cold  and  low." 

The  Camerons  of  Fassifern  were  descended  from  John  Cameron, 
the  second  son  of  John  Cameron  of  Lochiel,  who,  having  been  out 
in  1715,  was  attainted,  and  forfeited  his  lands.  Lochiel  had  two 
other  sons ;  the  elder,  Donald,  was  the  Lochiel  who  figured  in  the 


98  Ben  Nevis. 

'45  ;  and  the  younger,  Alexander,  a  medical  man,  was  himself  the 
hero  of  as  sad  a  tragedy  as  any  with  which  the  family  name  is 
connected.  He  was  at  Culloden,  where  he  succoured  indifferently 
both  friends  and  foes,  and  ministered  as  a  surgeon  to  the  wounds 
of  the  soldiers  of  both  parties.  Finding  himself  still  deeply 
implicated,  like  his  brother,  in  the  rebellion,  he  fled  to  Flanders, 
where  his  father  lived;  but  returning  to  Scotland  in  1753,  more 
than  eight  years  after  the  rising,  he  was  arrested,  and  sent  to 
London,  where  he  was  imprisoned  in  the  Savoy,  brought  to  trial, 
and  put  to  death.  His  body  was  buried  in  the  ancient  chapel  of 
St.  John,  in  the  Savoy ;  and  a  stained-glass  window,  erected  with 
the  special  leave  of  the  Queen  by  his  present  representatives,  marks 
at  once  the  sadness  of  his  fate  and  the  improvement  in  manners, 
which  would  render  such  an  act  of  barbarous  justice  impossible  at 
the  present  day. 

John  Cameron  of  Fassifern,  the  brother  of  this  ill-fated  individual, 
was  the  father  of  Ewen  Campbell,  created  a  baronet,  as  we  have  said,, 
in  recognition  of  the  services  of  his  eldest  son,  who  perished  at 
Quatre  Bras.  Lochiel  was  also  represented  in  this  glorious 
campaign.  His  eldest  son,  the  late  chie£  was  in  the  Grenadier 
Guards  at  Waterloo.  These  modern  Camerons  were,  however,  only 
worthy  sons  of  their  great  ancestor,  "  Evan  Dhu,"  whose  history 
forms  so  strange,  yet  so  characteristic,  an  episode  in  the  history  of 
Scotland.  To  give  an  accurate  idea  of  the  state  of  society  there  in 
the  time  of  Cromwell  and  the  Civil  Wars,  a  notice  of  him  would  be 
most  useful ;  and,  as  his  life  was  passed  under  the  shadow  of  Ben 
Nevis,  a  short  account  of  it  will  not  be  out  of  place  here.  Ewen 
Cameron  of  Lochiel  was  born  in  1629 — that  is,  in  the  fourth  year  of 


Ben  Nevis.  99 


the  reign  of  Charles  the  First — and  died  in  1719,  more  than  five  years 
after  the  accession  of  the  House  of  Hanover.  He  thus  lived  through 
some  of  the  most  stirring  scenes,  and  took  part  in  many  of  the 
events,  of  that  disturbed  era.  The  clan  had  originally  been  seated 
on  the  eastern  side  of  the  loch,  where  they  held  their  lands  under 
the  Lord  of  the  Isles.  They  were  divided  into  three  families  or 
septs,  and  in  1431,  when  Donald  Dhu  invaded  Scotland,  they  were 
attacked  and  dispersed  by  him,  and  their  chief  driven  away  into 
Ireland.  In  1564,  Queen  Mary  granted  a  charter  confirming 
Donald  Cameron  of  "  Lochyell "  in  his  estates  on  the  western  side 
of  the  lakes,  and  these  lands  descended  duly  to  his  grandson 
"Evan  Dhu."  This  chieftain  was  a  staunch  Eoyalist,  and  in  1652 
he  joined  the  Scottish  rising  against  Cromwell,  which  General 
Monk  endeavoured  fruitlessly  to  suppress.  At  last  a  kind  of  truce 
was  concluded,  in  which  Lochiel  received  very  honourable  terms. 
But  Sir  Walter  Scott's  account  of  the  matter  is  the  best :  we  read  in 
the  Tales  of  a  Grandfather  (chap,  xlvi.)  : — 

"  It  was  the  constant  policy  of  Cromwell  and  his  officers,  both 
in  Ireland  and  Scotland,  to  cut  down  and  destroy  the  forests  in 
which  the  insurgent  natives  found  places  of  defence  and  conceal- 
ment. In  conformity  with  this  general  rule,  the  commandant  of 
Inverlochy  embarked  three  hundred  men  in  two  light-armed  vessels, 
with  directions  to  disembark  at  a  place  called  Achdalew,  for  the 
purpose  of  destroying  Lochiel's  cattle  and  felling  his  woods.  Lochiel, 
who  watched  their  motions  closely,  saw  the  English  soldiers  come 
ashore,  one-half  having  hatchets  and  other  tools  as  a  working 
party,  the  other  half  under  arms,  to  protect  their  operations. 
Though  the  difference  of  numbers  was  so  great,  the  chieftain  vowed 


100  Ben  Nevis. 

that  he  would  make  the  red  soldier  (so  the  English  were  called  from 
their  uniform)  pay  dear  for  every  bullock  or  tree  which  he  should 
destroy  on  the  black  soldier's  property  (alluding  to  the  dark  colour 
of  the  tartan,  and  perhaps  to  his  own  complexion).  He  then 
demanded  of  some  of  his  followers  who  had  served  under  Montrose, 
whether  they  had  ever  seen  the  Great  Marquis  encounter  with  such 
unequal  numbers.  They  answered,  they  could  recollect  no  instance 
of  such  temerity.  '  We  will  fight,  nevertheless,'  said  Evan  Dhu ; 
'  and  if  each  of  us  kill  a  man,  which  is  no  mighty  matter,  I  will 
answer  for  the  event.'  That  his  family  might  not  be  destroyed  in 
so  doubtful  an  enterprise,  he  ordered  his  brother  Allan  to  be  bound 
to  a  tree,  meaning  to  prevent  his  interference  in  the  conflict.  But 
Allan  prevailed  on  a  little  boy,  who  was  left  to  attend  him,  to 
unloose  the  cords,  and  was  soon  as  deep  in  the  fight  as  Evan 
himself. 

"  The  Camerons,  concealed  by  the  trees,  advanced  so  close  on 
the  enemy  as  to  pour  on  them  an  unexpected  and  destructive 
shower  of  shot  and  arrows,  which  slew  thirty  men ;  and  ere  they 
could  recover  from  their  surprise,  the  Highlanders  were  in  the 
midst  of  them,  laying  about  them  with  incredible  fury,  with  their 
ponderous  swords  and  axes.  After  a  gallant  resistance,  the  mass  of 
the  English  began  to  retire  towards  their  vessels,  when  Evan  Dhu 
commanded  a  piper  and  a  small  party  to  go  betwixt  the  enemy  and 
their  barks,  and  then  sound  his  pibroch  and  war-cry,  till  their 
clamour  made  it  seem  that  there  was  another  body  of  Highlanders 
in  ambush  to  cut  off  their  retreat.  The  English,  driven  to  fury  and 
despair  by  this  new  alarm,  turned  back,  like  brave  men,  upon  the 
first  assailants  ;  and  if  the  working  party  had  possessed  military 


Ben  Nevis.  101 


weapons,   Lochiel  might  have  had  little  reason   to   congratulate 
himself  on  the  result  of  this  audacious  stratagem. 

"  He  himself  had  a  personal  rencontre,  strongly  characteristic  of 
the  ferocity  of  the  times.  The  chief  was  singled  out  by  an  English 
officer  of  great  personal  strength,  and  as  they  were  separated  from 
the  general  strife,  they  fought  in  single  combat  for  some  time. 
Lochiel  was  dexterous  enough  to  disarm  the  Englishman ;  but  his 
gigantic  adversary  suddenly  closed  on  him,  and  in  the  struggle 
which  ensued  both  fell  to  the  ground,  the  officer  uppermost.  He 
was  in  the  act  of  grasping  at  his  sword,  which  had  fallen  near  the 
place  where  they  lay  in  deadly  struggle,  and  was  naturally  extending 
his  neck  in  the  same  direction,  when  the  Highland  chief,  making  a 
desperate  effort,  grasped  his  enemy  by  the  collar,  and  snatching 
with  his  teeth  at  the  bare  and  outstretched  throat,  he  seized  it  as  a 
wild-cat  might  have  done,  and  kept  his  hold  so  fast  as  so  tear  out 
the  windpipe.  The  officer  died  in  this  singular  manner.  Lochiel 
was  so  far  from  disowning  or  being  ashamed  of  this  extraordinary 
mode  of  defence,  that  he  was  afterwards  heard  to  say  it  was  the 
sweetest  morsel  he  had  ever  tasted. 

"When  Lochiel,  thus  extricated  from  the  most  imminent  danger, 
was  able  to  rejoin  his  men,  he  found  they  had  not  only  pursued  the 
English  to  the  beach,  but  even  into  the  sea,  cutting  and  stabbing 
whomever  they  could  overtake." 

Sir  Walter  narrates  one  or  two  similar  scenes,  and  proceeds  : — 

"  By  such  exploits  he  rendered  himself  so  troublesome,  that  the 
English  were  desirous  to  have  peace  with  him  on  any  moderate 
terms.  Their  overtures  were  at  first  rejected,  Evan  Dhu  returning 
for  answer,  that  he  would  not  abjure  the  King's  authority,  even 


102  Ben  Nevis. 

though  the  alternative  was  to  be  his  living  and  dying  in  the 
condition  of  an  exile  and  outlaw.  But  when  it  was  hinted  to  him 
that  no  express  renunciation  of  the  King's  authority  would  be 
required,  and  that  he  was  only  desired  to  live  in  peace  under  the 
existing  government,  the  chief  made  his  submission  to  the  existing 
powers  with  much  solemnity. 

"  Lochiel  came  down  on  this  occasion,  at  the  head  of  his  whole 
clan  in  arms,  to  the  garrison  of  Inverlochy.  The  English  forces 
being  drawn  up  in  a  line  opposite  to  them,  the  Camerons  laid  down 
their  arms  in  the  name  of  King  Charles,  and  took  them  up  again  in 
that  of  the  States,  without  any  mention  of  Cromwell,  or  any 
disowning  of  the  King's  authority.  In  consequence  of  this  honour- 
able treaty,  the  last  Scotsman  who  maintained  the  cause  of  Charles 
Stuart  submitted  to  the  authority  of  the  republic. 

"  It  is  related  of  this  remarkable  chieftain,  that  he  slew  with  his 
own  hand  the  last  wolf  that  was  ever  seen  in  the  Highlands  of 
Scotland.  Tradition  records  another  anecdote  of  him.  Being 
benighted,  on  some  party  for  the  battle  or  the  chase,  Evan  Dhu 
laid  himself  down  with  his  followers  to  sleep  in  the  snow.  As  he 
composed  himself  to  rest,  he  observed  that  one  of  his  sons,  or 
nephews,  had  rolled  together  a  great  snowball,  on  which  he 
deposited  his  head.  Indignant  at  what  he  considered  a  mark  of 
effeminacy,  he  started  up  and  kicked  the  snowball  from  under 
the  sleeper's  head,  exclaiming — '  Are  you  become  so  luxurious  that 
you  cannot  sleep  without  a  pillow  ?' ' 

After  the  accession  of  James  II.,  Lochiel  came  to  court  to  obtain 
pardon  for  one  of  his  clan,  who,  being  in  command  of  a  party  of 
Camerons,  had  fired  by  mistake  on  a  body  of  Athole  men,  and 


Ben  Nevis.  103 


killed  several.  He  was  received  with  the  most  honourable  distinc- 
tion, and  his  request  granted.  The  King  desiring  to  make  him  a 
knight,  asked  the  chieftain  for  his  own  sword,  in  order  to  render 
the  ceremony  still  more  peculiar.  Lochiel  had  ridden  up  from 
Scotland — being  then  the  only  mode  of  travelling — and  a  constant 
rain  had  so  rusted  his  trusty  broadsword,  that  at  the  moment  no 
man  could  have  unsheathed  it.  Lochiel,  affronted  at  the  idea 
which  the  courtiers  might  conceive  from  his  not  being  able  to  draw 
his  own  sword,  burst  into  tears. 

"  '  Do  not  regard  it,  my  faithful  friend,'  said  King  James,  with 
ready  courtesy ;  '  your  sword  would  have  left  the  scabbard  of  itself, 
had  the  Koyal  cause  required  it.' 

"With  that  he  bestowed  the  intended  honour  with  his  own 
sword,  which  he  presented  to  the  new  knight  as  soon  as  the 
ceremony  was  performed." 

But  Sir  Evan  Cameron  was  not  destined  to  go  down  into  his 
grave  before  he  had  occasion  to  draw  the  King's  sword  more  than 
once.  The  Western  Highlands  were  constantly  disturbed  during 
the  remaining  years  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  Lochiel  figures 
in  every  event  which  took  place  within  sight  of  Ben  Nevis.  All 
the  clans  whose  homes  were  on  its  slopes  took  part  in  the  war 
which  followed  the  accession  of  William  the  Third.  The 
Macintoshes  and  the  Macdonalds  took  the  opportunity  to  renew 
their  ancient  feuds  respecting  the  possession  of  Glen  Eoy  and 
Glen  Spean,  which  lie  close  to  the  mountain  on  the  north.  The 
Macdonalds  of  Glencoe  and  those  of  Glengarry,  which  lie  a  little 
further  off,  willingly  joined  in  the  fray,  and  came  to  help  their 
kinsmen  of  Keppoch.  The  Macintoshes  met  this  array  at  Mullroy. 


104  Ben  Nevis. 

A  furious  battle  ensued,  and  the  Macintoshes  were  defeated.  The 
Macphersons  now  appeared  on  the  scene.  Cluny,  their  chief, 
took  the  part  of  the  defeated  clan;  and  having  compelled  the 
Macdonalds  to  submit,  set  the  chief  of  Macintosh,  who  had  been 
taken  prisoner,  at  liberty  again.  But  the  matter  was  not  to  end 
here ;  for  some  soldiers  of  the  Government,  under  the  command  of 
a  Captain  Mackenzie  of  Suddie,  had  taken  part  in  the  fight,  and 
Suddie  had  been  killed.  Sixty  dragoons  and  two  hundred  foot- 
guards  were  sent  down  from  headquarters  with  orders  to  waste  the 
country,  and  Macdonald  of  Keppoch  had  to  fly  for  a  time  ;  but  a 
fine  having  been  paid  for  him,  he  shortly  returned,  and  soon  after- 
wards we  find  him  besieging  Inverness  to  punish  the  inhabitants 
for  taking  part  against  him  in  his  late  troubles.  While  engaged 
in  this  enterprise,  he  was  interrupted  by  Lord  Dundee — who  is 
better  known  in  history  as  "  Claverhouse" — who  persuaded  him  to 
join  the  army  he  had  raised  for  the  restoration  of  King  James. 
Sir  Evan  Cameron  of  Lochiel,  and  many  another  chief  from  the 
same  country,  were  in  the  army ;  and  when  they  met  King 
William's  forces  under  Mackay  at  Killiecrankie,  it  was  old  Lochiel 
who  pointed  out  a  favourable  omen  to  his  fellows  : — 

"  The  armies  shouted  when  they  came  in  sight  of  each  other ; 
but  the  enthusiasm  of  Mackay^s  soldiers  being  damped  by  the 
circumstances  we  have  observed,  their  military  shout  made  but  a 
dull  and  sullen  sound  compared  to  the  yell  of  the  Highlanders, 
which  rung  far  and  shrill  from  all  the  hills  around  them.  Sir 
Evan  Cameron  of  Lochiel,  of  whom  I  formerly  gave  you  some 
anecdotes,  called  on  those  around  him  to  attend  to  this  circum- 
stance, saying,  that  in  all  his  battles  he  observed  victory  had  ever 


Ben  Nevis.  105 

been  on  the  side  of  those  whose  shout  before  joining  seemed  most 
sprightly  and  confident" 

This  was  the  last  battle  in  which  he  took  part  He  was  allowed 
to  retire  to  his  estates  after  the  final  success  of  King  William,  and 
there  he  lived  to  a  great  age  in  peace.  Latterly,  he  grew  very 
infirm,  and  lost  his  strength  and  the  use  of  his  faculties,  else 
perhaps  he  might  have  prevented  the  temporary  ruin  of  his  family 
when  his  eldest  son,  John  Cameron,  joined  the  Earl  of  Mar  in  the 
Old  Pretender's  rising.  However,  he  survived  his  son's  attainder 
and  flight,  and  at  last  "  this  once  formidable  warrior  was  fed  like 
an  infant,  and,  like  an  infant,  rocked  in  a  cradle." 

But  the  history  of  the  Camerons  of  Lochiel  is  by  no  means  all 
there  is  of  interest  to  be  told  of  Ben  Nevis.  We  mentioned  above 
the  invasion  of  Argyllshire  by  Donald  Balloch.  in  1431.  This  was 
the  occasion  of  the  famous  "  pibroch,"  or  march,  "  of  Donald  Dhu," 
which  Sir  Walter  Scott's  spirited  fines  have  rendered  so  familiar. 
The  words  are  full  of  local  allusions  :  — 

"  Pibroch  of  Doaoil  Dim— 

Pibroch  of  DonnO, 
Wake  thy  wild  voice  anew 


Come  sway,  come  away, 


Come  in  your  war  array, 

'.  •-:."..•-    .:.  1    .'•.  :___   :_?.. 

Come  from  deep  glen,  and 
From  nMiarnfcuin  so  rocky  j 

The  war-pipe  and  pennon. 
Are  at  Inrcdoehy. 


106  Ben  Nevis. 

Come  every  hill  plaid,  and 

True  heart  that  wears  one ; 
Come  every  steel  blade,  and 

Strong  hand  that  bears  one." 

Inverlochy  Castle  was  the  scene  of  many  another  such  gather- 
ing. It  is  said  to  have  been  built  originally  by  Edward  the  First 
of  England  to  overawe  the  Highlands,  and  the  situation  ensured  it 
a  conspicuous  part  in  every  contest.  It  was  at  Inverlochy  that 
Donald  Dhu  defeated  Mar  and  Caithness  in  1431  ;  and  more  than 
two  centuries  later,  the  great  Marquis  of  Montroae  surprised 
Argyll  and  his  Covenanters  under  the  same  walls.  He  had  just 
withdrawn  towards  Inverness,  in  the  winter  of  1644,  in  order  to 
organise  some  of  the  clans  for  the  ensuing  campaign  ;  but  during 
the  last  days  of  January,  1645,  "he  learned  that  his  rival,  Argyll, 
had  returned  into  the  Western  Highlands  with  some  Lowland 
forces ;  that  he  had  called  around  him  his  numerous  clan,  burning 
to  revenge  the  wrongs  which  they  had  sustained,  and  was  lying 
with  a  strong  force  near  the  old  castle  of  Inverlochy,  situated  at 
the  western  extremity  of  the  chain  of  lakes  through  which  the 
Caledonian  Canal  is  now  conducted. 

"  The  news  at  once  altered  Montrose's  plans. 

"  He  returned  upon  Argyll  by  a  succession  of  the  most  difficult 
mountain-passes  covered  with  snow,  and  the  vanguard  of  the 
Campbells  saw  themselves  suddenly  engaged  with  that  of  their 
implacable  enemy.  Both  parties  lay  all  night  on  their  arms  ;  but, 
by  break  of  day,  Argyll  betook  himself  to  his  galley,  and  rowing 
off  shore,  remained  a  spectator  of  the  combat,  when,  by  all  the  rules 
of  duty  and  gratitude,  he  ought  to  have  been  at  the  head  of  his 


Ben  Nevis.  107 


devoted  followers.  His  unfortunate  clansmen  supported  the 
honour  of  the  name  with  the  greatest  courage,  and  many  of 
the  most  distinguished  fell  on  the  field  of  battle.  Montrose 
gained  a  complete  victory,  which  greatly  extended  his  influence 
over  the  Highlands,  and  in  proportion  diminished  that  of  his  dis- 
comfited rival." 

With  a  purpose  very  similar  to  that  which  had  caused  Edward 
the  First  to  build  Inverlochy,  General  Monk  built  the  fort,  after- 
wards strengthened  and  called  after  William  the  Third.  Even  this 
fortress  is  now  no  longer  used  for  its  original  purpose.  It  has 
passed  into  private  hands,  having  been  sold  by  Government  to 
Campbell  of  Monzie.  Yet  Fort- William  was  not  without  its  place 
in  history.  At  least  twice  it  comes  forward  very  prominently. 
The  first  time  was  soon  after  its  construction.  In  1692,  William 
the  Third  having  tried  in  vain  to  pacify  the  Highlands,  issued  a 
proclamation,  in  which  the  last  day  of  the  year  was  named  as  the 
latest  date  at  which  the  submission  of  the  chiefs  would  be 
received  ;  and  further  announcing  that  those  clans  who  had  not  by 
their  heads  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  before  the  31st  December 
would  be  looked  upon  and  treated  as  public  enemies.  The  humane 
and  wise  object  of  this  proclamation  was  attended  with  consider- 
able success.  After  some  hesitation,  and  a  show  of  force  on  the 
part  of  the  Government,  the  chiefs,  one  after  another,  came  in 
before  the  period  had  elapsed ;  but  there  was  one  exception. 
Macdonald  of  Glencoe,  as  we  saw  above,  was  one  of  the  chiefs 
implicated  in  the  affair  at  Mullroy.  The  clan  was  one  of  the  most 
turbulent,  and  the  year  had  almost  elapsed  without  any  formal  act 
of  submission  on  the  part  of  Maclan,  their  representative.  On  the 


108  Ben  Nevis. 

i 

last  day  of  December,  however,  Glencoe  appeared  at  Fort- William, 
and  offered  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance.  Colonel  Hill,  the 
governor  of  the  fort,  was  not  an  officer  of  sufficient  rank,  nor  a 
magistrate,  to  take  the  oath  tendered  him,  and  Macdonald  was 
desired  to  repair  to  Inverary,  to  the  Sheriff  of  Argyleshire,  Sir 
Colin  Campbell,  to  swear  allegiance.  But  Inverary  was  at  that 
season  four  or  five  days'  journey  from  Glencoe,  and  the  first  week 
of  a  new  year  had  nearly  gone  by  before  the  faith  of  the  Macdonalds 
had  been  pledged.  Regarding  the  subsequent  event,  which  shed 
such  a  gloomy  light  over  Glencoe,  much  controversy  has  taken 
place.  We  are  not  concerned  to  vindicate  the  character  of  either 
William  or  his  minister,  the  Master  of  Stair.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  the  Campbells  and  other  neighbouring  clans  had  powerful 
friends  at  court,  and  carried  their  bloody  feuds  and  barbarous 
quarrels  even  into  the  civilised  life  of  the  capital.  Sanguinary 
instructions  were  sent  to  Colonel  Hill.  The  tribe  of  Glencoe  was 
to  be  extirpated  ;  they  had  been  named  in  a  proclamation  made  on 
the  16th  January  : — "  As  for  Maclan  of  Glencoe  and  that  tribe,  if 
they  can  be  well  distinguished  from  the  rest  of  the  Highlanders,  it 
will  be  proper,  for  the  vindication  of  public  justice,  to  extirpate  that 
set  of  thieves" — words,  no  doubt,  very  shocking  to  our  ears;  but 
when  we  consider  the  lawless  character  of  the  country  at  the  time, 
they  can  scarcely  be  considered  too  severe.  Whether  the  knowledge 
of  Glencoe's  submission  was  purposely  suppressed  or  not  can  never 
be  known,  in  all  probability ;  but  much  of  our  pity  for  the  victims 
of  the  error,  if  it  was  one,  is  removed  when  we  remember  that  both 
they  and  most  of  their  neighbours,  if  not  all,  had  long  since,  by 
repeated  acts  of  disorder  and  even  of  blood,  justly  forfeited  their 


Ben  Nevis.  109 


lives.  A  party  of  soldiers  was  ordered  to  occupy  Glencoe  on  the 
1st  of  February,  where,  being  received  as  friends  by  the 
Macdonalds,  and  accounting  for  their  coming  on  the  plea  that 
Fort- William  was  overcrowded,  they  remained  for  nearly  a  fort- 
night. This  gave  the  subsequent  event  still  more  the  appearance 
of  treachery.  On  the  12th,  orders  arrived  that  all  the  members  of 
the  clan  under  seventy  years  of  age  were  to  be  put  to  death. 
Campbell  of  Glenlyon,  who  commanded  the  soldiers,  though  he 
was  a  connection  by  marriage  of  the  chief,  and  though  he  had 
enjoyed  his  hospitality  on  several  occasions,  does  not  seem  to  have 
had  much  hesitation  in  executing  these  orders. 

"About  four  o'clock,  in  the  morning  of  13th  February,  the 
scene  of  blood  began.  A  party,  commanded  by  one  of  the  Lindsays, 
came  to  Maclan's  house  and  knocked  for  admittance,  which  was  at 
once  given.  Lindsay,  one  of  the  expected  guests  at  the  family  meal 
of  the  day,  commanded  this  party,  who  instantly  shot  Maclan  dead 
by  his  own  bed-side,  as  he  was  in  the  act  of  dressing  himself,  and 
giving  orders  for  refreshments  to  be  provided  for  his  fatal  visitors. 
His  aged  wife  was  stripped  by  the  savage  soldiery,  who,  at  the  same 
time,  drew  off  the  gold  rings  from  her  fingers  with  their  teeth.  She 
died  the  next  day,  distracted  with  grief,  and  the  brutal  treatment 
she  had  received.  Several  domestics  and  clansmen  were  killed  at 
the  same  place. 

•  *••••• 

"  Meantime  the  work  of  death  proceeded  with  as  little  remorse 
as  Stair  himself  could  have  desired.  Even  the  slight  mitigation  of 
their  orders  respecting  those  above  seventy  years  was  disregarded 
by  the  soldiery  in  their  indiscriminate  thirst  for  blood,  and  several 


110  Ben  Nevis. 

very  aged  and  bedridden  persons  were  slain  amongst  others.  At 
the  hamlet  where  Glenlyon  had  his  own  quarters,  nine  men, 
including  his  landlord,  were  bound  and  shot  like  felons ; 
and  one  of  them,  Macdonald  of  Auchintriaten,  had  General 
Hill's  passport  in  his  pocket  at  the  time.  A  fine  lad  of  twenty 
had,  by  some  glimpse  of  compassion  on  the  part  of  the  soldiers, 
been  spared,  when  one  Captain  Drummond  came  up,  and 
demanding  why  the  orders  were  transgressed  in  that  particu- 
lar, caused  him  instantly  to  be  put  to  death.  A  boy,  five  or 
six  years  old,  clung  to  Glenlyon's  knees,  entreating  for  mercy, 
and  offering  to  become  his  servant  for  life,  if  he  would  spare 
him.  Glenlyon  was  moved;  but  the  same  Drummond  stabbed 
the  child  with  his  dirk,  while  he  was  in  this  agony  of  supplication." 
Out  of  a  population  of  about  two  hundred,  nearly  a  quarter  were 
put  to  death  in  this  cold-blooded  manner,  and  probably  many  more 
perished  from  cold  and  hunger.  "  Flying  from  their  burning  huts, 
and  from  their  murderous  visitors,  the  half -naked  fugitives  com- 
mitted themselves  to  a  winter  morning  of  darkness,  snow,  and 
storm,  amidst  a  wilderness  the  most  savage  in  the  West  Highlands, 
having  a  bloody  death  behind  them,  and  before  them  tempest, 
famine,  and  desolation.  Bewildered  in  the  snow-wreaths,  several 
sank  to  rise  no  more.  But  the  severities  of  the  storm  were  tender 
mercies  compared  to  the  cruelty  of  their  persecutors.  The  great 
fall  of  snow,  which  proved  fatal  to  several  of  the  fugitives,  was  the 
means  of  saving  the  remnant  that  escaped.  Major  Duncanson, 
agreeably  to  the  plan  expressed  in  his  orders  to  Glenlyon,  had  not 
failed  to  put  himself  in  motion,  with  four  hundred  men,  on  the 
evening  preceding  the  slaughter ;  and  had  he  reached  the  eastern 


Ben  Nevis.  ill 


passes  out  of  Glencoe  by  four  in  the  morning,  as  he  calculated,  he 
must  have  intercepted  and  destroyed  ail  those  who  took  that  only 
way  of  escape  from  Glenlyon  and  his  followers.  But  as  this 
reinforcement  arrived  so  late  as  eleven  in  the  forenoon,  they  found 
no  Macdonald  alive  in  Glencoe,  save  an  old  man  of  eighty, 
whom  they  slew;  and,  after  burning  such  houses  as  were 
yet  unconsumed,  they  collected  the  property  of  the  tribe,  consisting 
of  twelve  hundred  head  of  cattle  and  horses,  besides  goats  and 
sheep,  and  drove  them  off  to  the  garrison  of  Fort-William." 

Fort-William  once  more  appears  in  history.  It  was  besieged  in 
1746  by  the  Young  Pretender,  but  without  success.  It  is  worth 
noting  that,  notwithstanding  the  massacre,  Macdonald  of  Glencoe 
joined  his  standard  with  a  hundred  and  fifty  men,  and,  according  to 
Scott,  had  an  opportunity,  during  the  march  into  the  Lowlands,  of 
sparing  the  house  of  the  Earl  of  Stair,  to  whose  father  the  clan 
owed  so  great  an  injury. 

We  have  several  times  had  occasion  to  speak  of  Glen  Roy. 
Modern  science  has  given  it  an  interest  even  greater  than  any  it 
had  as  the  scene  of  the  last  great  battle  of  the  clans.  Mr.  Geikie 
thus  describes  the  "  Parallel  Koads"  of  Glen  Eoy  : — 

"  Far  away  up  the  valley,  if  the  day  be  a  favourable  one,  the 
traveller  can  trace  a  line  carved  along  the  steep  hill-side,  to  the 
south  of  the  river,  and  running  with  seemingly  mathematical 
precision  in  a  horizontal  course  till  it  is  lost  in  the  distance. 

.  .  Returning  now  to  Glen  Roy,  the  traveller  should  ascend 
that  valley  to  see  what  light  its  famous  '  Parallel  Roads '  have  to 
cast  upon  the  history  of  the  old  glaciers  of  the  Highlands.  The 
same  long,  straight  line,  which,  as  he  drew  near  to  the  Bridge  of 


112  Ben  Nevis. 

Roy,  he  noticed  running  high  along  the  mountain -side,  in  the  south 
of  the  Spean  Valley,  is  now  seen  to  turn  up  Glen  Roy,  winding 
along  the  hills  of  that  valley  with  the  same  singular  horizontality. 
When  he  gets  several  miles  up  the  glen,  he  begins  to  see  traces  of 
two  other  terraces,  until,  on  reaching  a  turn  of  the  road,  the  long, 
deep  glen  lies  before  him,  with  its  three  bars,  straight  and  distinct 
as  if  they  had  been  drawn  with  a  ruler,  yet  winding  into  all  the 
recesses  of  the  steep  slopes,  and  coming  out  again  over  the  projecting 
parts  without  ever  deviating  from  their  parallelism.  The  '  roads,' 
so  long  a  subject  of  wonderment  and  legendary  story  among  the 
Highlanders,  and  for  so  many  years  a  source  of  sore  perplexity 
among  men  of  science,  seem  at  last  to  be  understood.  Each  of 
them  is  a  shelf  or  terrace,  cut  by  the  shore  waters  of  a  lake  that 
once  filled  Glen  Koy.  The  highest  is  of  course  the  oldest,  and 
those  beneath  it  were  formed  in  succession,  as  the  waters  of  the  lake 
were  lowered.  They  are  seen  not  only  in  Glen  Roy.  A  little  beyond 
where  the  first  good  view  of  the  lake  is  obtained,  there  is  a  hollow 
through  the  hills  on  the  left  side  of  the  -valley,  marked  on  the  maps 
as  gap.  This  hollow  forms  a  short  '  col'  between  Glen  Roy  and  a 
small  valley  that  strikes  away  to  the  south-west.  Standing  on  the 
top  of  the  ridge,  the  observer  looks  up  Glen  Roy  on  the  one  side, 
and  down  this  narrow  valley  on  the  other,  and  he  can  mark  that, 
while  the  lowest  of  the  parallel  roads  in  Glen  Roy  runs  along  the 
hill-side,  a  short  way  below  him  the  two  upper  roads  come  through 
the  hollow,  and  wind  westward  into  Glen  Collarig ;  so  that  the  old 
lake  not  only  filled  up  Glen  Roy,  but  also  some  of  the  other  valleys 
to  the  west.  Until  Agassiz  suggested  the  idea  of  a  dam  of  glacier- 
ice,  the  great  difficulty  in  the  way  of  understanding  how  a  lake 


Ben  Nevis.  113 


could  ever  have  filled  these  valleys,  was  the  entire  absence  of  any 
relic  of  the  barrier  that  must  have  kept  back  the  water.  Mr. 
Jamieson  has  recently  shown,  however,  that  Agassiz's  suggestion  is 
fully  borne  out  by  the  evidence  of  great  glacial  erosion,  both  in 
Glen  Spean,  and  in  the  valley  of  the  Caledonian  Canal.  The  latter 
valley,  as  I  have  already  pointed  out,  seems  to  have  been  filled  to 
the  brim  with  ice,  which,  choking  up  the  mouth  of  Glen  Gluoy  and 
Glen  Spean,  served  to  pond  back  the  waters  of  these  glens.  The 
Glen  Ireig  glacier,  in  like  manner,  stretched  right  across  Glen  Spean, 
and  mounted  its  north  bank.  When  the  lake  that  must  thus  have 
filled  Glen  Eoy  and  the  neighbouring  valleys  was  at  its  deepest,  its 
surplus  waters  would  escape  from  the  head  of  Glen  Roy  down  into 
Strath  Spey,  and  at  that  time  the  uppermost  beach  or  parallel  road 
(1140  feet  above  the  present  sea-level)  was  formed.  The  Glen 
Ireig  glacier  then  shrank  a  little,  and  the  lake  was  thus  lowered 
about  eighty  feet,  so  as  to  form  the  middle  terrace,  which  is  1059 
feet  above  the  sea,  the  outflow  being  now  by  the  head  of  Glen 
Glaster,  and  through  Loch  Laggan  into  the  Spey.  After  the  lake 
had  remained  for  a  time  at  that  height,  the  Glen  Ireig  glacier  con- 
tinued on  the  decline,  and  at  last  crept  back  out  of  Glen  Spean. 
By  this  means  the  level  of  the  lake  was  reduced  to  847  feet  above 
the  sea,  and  the  waters  of  Glen  Roy  joined  those  of  Loch  Laggan, 
forming  the  long  winding  lake,  having  its  overflow  by  what  is  now 
the  head  of  Glen  Spean,  into  Strath  Spey.  While  this  level  was 
maintained,  the  lowest  of  the  parallel  roads  of  Glen  Roy  was 
formed.  As  the  climate  of  the  glacial  period  grew  milder,  how- 
ever, the  mass  of  ice  which  choked. up  the  mouth  of  Glen  Spean, 
and  ponded  back  the  water,  gradually  melted  away.  The  drainage 


114 


Ben  Nevis. 


of  Glen  Roy,  Glen  Spean,  and  their  tributary  valleys  was  then  no 
longer  arrested,  and  as  the  lake  crept  step  by  step  down  the  glen 
towards  the  sea,  the  streams  one  by  one  took  their  places  in  the 
channels,  which  they  have  been  busy  widening  and  deepening  ever 
since.  Such  seems  to  have  been  the  history  of  the  mysterious 
parallel  roads  of  Lochaber.  Instead  of  tracing  back  their  origin 
to  the  days  of  Fingal,  they  stand  before  us  as  the  memorials  of  an 
infinitely  vaster  antiquity — the  shores,  as  it  were,  of  a  phantom 
lake,  that  came  into  being  with  the  growth  of  the  glaciers,  and 
vanished  as  they  melted  away." 


Marcus  Ward  &  Co. ,  Printers,  Royal  Ulster  Works,  Belfast. 


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